Bangladesh has been through extreme tensions after the rise of extreme BJP’s back to power after 15 years of win by secular liberal Mamata Banerjee. Mamata clearly demonstrated that in more than 100 seats, votes were rigged.
The rise of BJP in West Bengal did not happen overnight. Below is a picture of the party-wise results of the three West Bengal Assembly elections in 2016, 2021 and 2026. In 2016, BJP did not matter at all in the West Bengal Assembly elections. They won only three seats and got about 10 percent of the votes. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool formed the government by getting 211 seats and about 45% of the votes. The Left Front got 26.6% and the Congress got 12.3% of the votes. The Trinamool and the Left had a clear advantage in the border areas of Kolkata and Bangladesh. Just 5 years later, the situation changed a lot in the 2021 elections. Although the Trinamool Congress formed the government by getting about 48% of the votes and 213, the ruling BJP at the center got 38% of the votes and 77 seats. At that time, Hasina’s golden rule was going on in Bangladesh and the so-called religious fundamentalists were being severely persecuted. Yet, the BJP got almost four times more votes across the border in Bangladesh. The BJP won seats in the Chicken Neck area and some areas bordering Bangladesh only in 2021. Between 2016 and 2021, the Congress and the Left were almost wiped out in West Bengal. The Congress got only 2.93% and the Left got 7% of the votes. The change in the political mindset of the voters of West Bengal mainly occurred during this period of 2016-2021. During this time, communalism, radical Hindutva, and hatred of Pakistan and Bangladesh spread widely in Indian central politics. The voters of West Bengal were also affected by this same environment. The change in the public opinion of the voters of West Bengal, including the whole of India, has nothing to do with the internal politics of Pakistan or Bangladesh. After seeing the results of 2021, the BJP made some specific plans for 2026. Since the minority Muslims of West Bengal tend to vote for the Trinamool, the names of more than 55 lakh Muslim voters were excluded from the voter list before the 2026 elections. Cow love and anti-Bangladesh campaigns were also ramped up. As a result, Mamata’s Trinamool got 40.8% of the votes in the 2026 elections and got only 80 seats. BJP got 45.84%, but got 207 seats. BJP got 2,92,24,804 popular votes and Trinamool got 2,60,13,084. That is, BJP got only 32 lakh 11 thousand 720 votes more than Trinamool in West Bengal. However, Muslim votes have been reduced by more than 55 lakh this time. That is, BJP has lost this election just by excluding Muslim voters. Left Alliance got 7% and Congress got 2.97% votes as usual. That is, Left and Congress politics are in a state of dissolution in West Bengal. Since Trinamool has lost many seats due to the reduction of Muslim votes and the number of Muslim voters in the border areas is relatively high, BJP has won by a large margin in the border areas of Bangladesh. The same voting pattern was seen in Kolkata. There too, BJP has won the seats of Trinamool in the past this time. In short, the reason for the BJP’s massive victory in this election in West Bengal is the dominance of Hindutva in India’s domestic politics and the strategic game of excluding Muslim voters. Moreover, since the Trinamool has been in power for a long time, naturally the swing vote has gone against them to some extent. But they have lost mainly to the BJP’s electoral strategy. Muslim voters were basically Mamata’s trump card for victory. This time, the BJP has already ruined that card. And after winning the election, there has been a huge attack on Muslim voters.
In private chats and in house meetings, BJP Leaders too acknowledged their loss in the election. Moreover, Hasina in New Delhi was alleged to be influencing Modi to stage an election like 2014, 2018 & 2024 in Bangladesh. Such rigged & controlled ballot staffing need united efforts by intelligence agencies. BAL leaders sheltered in India have congratulated Suvendu Adhikari and now his open urge to repatriate Hasina has created strong outrage within Bangladesh and beyond. It is time everyone take cautious steps to wipe out differences among July forces.
