Mamata Banerjee

The BJP’s reclamation efforts have also extended to the religious and cultural heart of Bengal. In a viral incident from Rampurhat in Birbhum district, BJP leaders reopened the Bhog room of the Sri Sri Radha Govinda Temple.

The front page of the Calcutta edition of the newspaper published on 5th May dominated BJP’s Bengal victory, with a large front in saffron colour “BJP’s Bengal” with an illustration of the iconic Howrah Bridge worked into the lettering. Below it is the headline “Saffron tsunami sets aside TMC”.

In a major political surprise, Adhikari snapped ties with the TMC and joined the BJP ahead of the 2021 state assembly elections.

The outgoing Chief Minister has refused to resign. Short on numbers, Banerjee has accused the BJP of ‘rigging’ and claimed that the TMC has won the elections ‘morally’.

Mamata Banerjee’s refusal to accept Bengal’s electoral verdict exposes the very authoritarianism and contempt for constitutional morality that the Congress-Left ecosystem has long accused the BJP of embodying.

Several foreign media publications covered the BJP’s thumping victory, though not without peddling propaganda about the victorious party’s ‘Hindu nationalist’ ideology, ‘Muslim minority under threat’ bogey and falsehoods about the pre-poll SIR exercise.

It is the BJP’s candidate selection and focus on real issues that propelled the party to 206 seats for its maiden triumph. BJP’s women candidates brought their own grassroots stories, carried pain and yearning to bring change that resonated with Bengali voters.