Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee seems to have managed to retain West Bengal based on what the current trends suggest.
Latest trends show the TMC is leading in 208 seats, of the total 292 seats contested, while the BJP is ahead in 79, according to CNN-News 18.
After trailing in the initial rounds of counting, Banerjee is now leading from Nandigram, the pocket-borough of her one-time party colleague and close aide Suvendu Adhikari.
Here are five reasons that appears to be behind Banerjee racing ahead in Bengal once again.
BJP’s lack of CM face
The first and foremost reason for the BJP to see its hopes crumbling is the absence of a credible, local chief ministerial face. Banerjee has always been a more acceptable face as a chief ministerial candidate to the people of Bengal, even though her party faced criticism for allegedly indulging in corruption in rural parts of the state.
The BJP’s campaign was primarily helmed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The voters clearly failed to relate to them as they connected more with Didi.
Also read: In last leg of Bengal polls, Mamata on offensive as PM cancels rallies, Congress hit by Covid
‘Outsiders’ jibe paid off
Banerjee’s sub-regional politics and her campaign calling the Modi-Shah duo ‘outsiders’ paid off. Her Bengali nationalism pitch, saying the ‘outsiders’ do not understand Bengal’s culture of inclusivity seems to have clearly worked in her favour.
Welfare schemes
Banerjee’s cash schemes, especially the ones for women — such as Kanyashree and Rupashree — have paid her electoral dividends.
Under the Kanyashree scheme, a girl child gets Rs 25,000 once she is in Class 8. The Rupashree scheme promises Rs 25,000 to a girl’s family when she turns 18.
Her social sector schemes of providing freebies like free rice, free ration also seem to have worked for her — despite the TMC facing huge resentment over ‘cut-money’ or extortion in the rural areas.
CPM-Congress vote bank sided with Mamata
The CPM-Congress vote bank, which played an important role in helping the BJP secure 18 seats and 40 per cent vote share in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, now seems to have sided with Banerjee.
The vote share for Banerjee has risen by 6 per cent — from 43 per cent to 49 per cent in the state — while the BJP’s has gone down to 37 per cent from 40 per cent.
The Muslims, who earlier reposed faith in the CPM-Congress combine, have now clearly rallied behind Banerjee. This seems to be primarily because of her strong and aggressive campaign against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Polarisation worked for TMC more
The politics of polarisation brought some gains for the BJP, but it worked more for the Trinamool.
Polarisation helped the BJP get some Hindu votes, which consolidated in some areas in south Bengal, but it also pushed Muslims to vote en masse for Banerjee.
(Edited by Debalina Dey)
Also read: In West Bengal, why Covid is likely to turn the poll turf in favour of Mamata