Didi failed more as an administrator and the same challenge had ousted Buddhadeb Bhattacharya in 2011
It's not all her fault certainly. Mamata Banerjee, the only woman chief minister of West Bengal, was today booted out. In part, to sympathise with her we can say --- Mamata is the victim of one of the basic laws of life and politics - As you sow, so shall you reap.
To romanticise the plot one can say it’s the law of Gravity. There will be push downwards from the top. And when that happens, the protagonist cannot do much.
Moreover, one’s always alone at the top. Today - May 4th, 2026, the mercurial mass leader must be feeling lonely.
But in more ways than one - Mamata is also responsible for most of what has gone wrong for her and her party. True, from the Left, she had inherited a rotten legacy. A system where 'systematic fraud' was inbuilt.
Misgovernance was cherished and goons were to be pampered.
Once a bitter critic of the communists; but when in power - (The historic Writer's Building was renamed Nobanno), she became more Left. There was no substantial change on ground.
Instead her regime was allegedly more corrupt than the communists.
‘Muslim appeasement’ as a political strategy was a menace of the Left era. But Mamata Banerjee made it a Mantra believing the 30 per cent Muslims will stick to her.
Well, the results analyses suggest they have largely remained with the TMC - but the party and the boss forgot they had created a reverse polarisation by default. The BJP benefited by 70 per cent Hindus. And in key areas, the Muslim vote split.
Answering to a query on 'BJP leading in Muslim dominated areas', Suvendu Adhikari said :
"There has been a Muslim bifurcation. This bifurcation or split is particularly evident in Malda, Murshidabad, and North Dinajpur. In South Bengal and Cooch Behar, Muslims are still initially leaning more towards the TMC, but the kind of 90–95% consolidation seen in 2021 and 2024 is no longer there.
There are visible cracks in that support base."
“There is anti-incumbency, plus Hindus are consolidated in favour of the Lotus. This is a very good signal for us,” he said.
The Election Commission has countermanded polls in the entire Falta constituency in South 24 Parganas district, citing "severe electoral offences and subversion of democratic process”.
Falta falls under Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency which is represented Abhishek Banerjee. The Bhabanipur contest witnessed sharp swings through the morning, with the chief minister trailing in the second round. But she regained advantage later.
In Nandigram, where Mamata was defeated in 2021; BJP nominee Suvendu Adhikari was ahead by over 3,100 votes against TMC's Pabitra Kar.
In Kolkata region, the BJP was doing well in Bidhannagar and Rashbehari (where journalist Swapan Dasgupta is trying his luck).
Among some key seats, BJP candidate Lakshmi Kanta Sau was leading in Jhargram ahead of TMC’s Mongal Saren. PM Narendra Modi had visited the place and it was at Jhargram that he took Jhal Muri – the viral video of which might have also influenced voters in the rural areas.
In Monteswar, BJP’s Saikat Panja was leading over his TMC rival Siddiqullah Chowdhury by a comfortable margin.
From Asansol Dakshin, BJP leader Agnimitra Paul was ahead over her TMC opponent. The saffron party was also leading in Dinhata, Gosaba, Baghmundi, Bankura and Durgapur Purba.
The BJP did well in key areas of Muslim-dominated Malda and Murshidabad.
The elections came and gone but they always leave some critical messages behind.
One message was that Mamata had underestimated the power and legitimacy of SIR.
She overestimated her legal team and the legal luminaries of Delhi including the likes of Kapil Sibal. But in the last six months, she must have lost more than a dozen litgation in the court.
Mamata had boasted she will not allow SIR. It was a totally misplaced stance. Her opposition made cadres misdirected, perhaps the party organisation suffered. The wrong priorities overwhelmed her party's eco system and practically gheroed their mindset.
But what is the future of the state of West Bengal now? For the BJP, the electoral glory should be short-lived. Focus should be on governance and here things could be messier than what was Uttar Pradesh in 2017 or what was Bihar in 2005.
There are certainly areas where changes will be necessary. And they should come quickly. The BJP must start implementing the Sankalp Patra as early as possible.
There are multiple complexities as Bengal has multiple communities. There are immense regional imbalances. And there are numerous issues related to Hindu-Muslim facets and also of different communities like Gorkhalis, other tribals and the issues and concern of development-starved North Bengal.
The mandate in Coochbehar region is important.
In Darjeeling hills; while working for the development; the new chief minister will have to strike a right balance between the interests of Gorkhalis (Nepali speaking people) and the vast Bengali population - both Hindus and Muslims.
Often language will unite people but religion will divide.
At times - the Hindu Bengalis and Hindu Nepalis will be on the same page vis-a-vis Hindutva -- but 'outsiders-insiders' issues will also figure on certain occasions.
Can the new chief minister with the blessings of Amit Shah reverse the dynamics? It's easier said than done.
The new chief minister - Let's assume would be Suvendu Adhikari ---- but he will have his priorities worked out.
His new job will require a mixed of many traits -boldness decisiveness, malleable charishma. Some of these will not be 'attractive' in a friend but will be essential for a leader and an administrator. The taste of the pudding is in the eating.
Mamata's failure was not as a politician. There she might have succeeded to an extent. But Didi failed as an administrator.
The same vice had brought the downfall of Buddhadeb Bhattacharya as well. Hence, tight rope walk will be a minimum demand from the BJP too.
Final words:
Perhaps - the BJP's win was more decided by the issue of Corruption and lack of women safety than the Hindu-Bangladeshi Muslims narrative. But anti-incumbency did not mean ... all such votes went to the BJP's kitty.
This may actually have caused the split in Muslim votes.
This also means - the Congress and the Left unlike 2021 – got sizable votes and a few seats. Other than BJP and the TMC, four other players are Congress, AJUP, CPI-M and All India Secular Front.
Among them, AISF also can emerge as a key political party in West Bengal. And if BJP continue to do very well; knowingly and otherwise – the people of Bengal might make the AISF an important political party in the state. It can be the 'new AIUDF' as was the case in Assam about a decade back.
M J Akbar, former editor and ex-Minister in the Modi Govt, said in an interview:
"Nobody gets Fed Up fast....nobody gets fed up with any relationship fast including the political relationship".
"The cumulative effect of experiences certainly leads to critical mass... Accumulation of small things. If I have to choose a central reason why there is a great dissatisfaction, it would be corruption.
And it will be corruption not at the level of taking money from the rich. It will be corruption for taking money from the poor".
Like in West Bengal or elsewhere; corruption has no religion or creed. If Hindus were victims in Mamata's Bengal. Muslims were no exception to the corruption menace. The teachers’ recruitment scam made people including Muslims furious.

Take Aways

Date with Destiny cannot be postponed:

Some Good must come of the BJP victory in the state. Can banner, bickering and mayhem now become history in West Bengal ?
The mandate is certainly a display of Hindu resurgence; but it was guided by genuine nationalism and people’s concerns for women safety and against corruption.
Can banner, bickering and mayhem now become history in West Bengal ?

Box 2

Pointers

In Panihati, the mother of RG Kar rape victim, BJP candidate Ratna Debnath was leading. Reportedly, an aggrieved mother did not comb her hair ever since the tragedy hit the family. She had vowed only to do combing of hair once her daughter got justice.
The apparatus to run the Double Engine Sarkars will have to realize that in Bengal things could be messier than what was Uttar Pradesh in 2017 or what was Bihar in 2005.
&&& The election results in West Bengal are a vindication of the Modi Govt's policy of development but they are also punctuated well with the right dosage of Hindutva ideology.
The Bengal mandate is certainly a display of Hindu resurgence. But it was guided by genuine nationalism. It was a vote against Islamic radicalism. It was a vote - as BJP's Samik Bhattacharya says – “an electoral battle to prevent the state of West Bengal turn into a new Bangladesh”.
The TMC did not realise the slogan 'Jai Bangla' has a typical communal agenda as it was borrowed from Awami League in Bangladesh.
And hence TMC had to a pay a bigger price any other ruling party would have paid after 15 years in office.
Finding fault with EVMs or blaming EC will never help the cause of TMC revival.
TMC lost touch with people : One example was demonstrated on the day of polling in Kolkata when an innocuous frail looking housewife standing in queue to cast vote said - "I am here to vote for the BJP because the state under Mamata -a woman chief minister - gave people the right to say Allah o Akbar; but me and my children could not say Jai Shri Ram".

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