BJP Secures 207 Seats in West Bengal Assembly Elections

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party won 207 of 294 seats in West Bengal’s assembly elections, according to election officials. The result ends 15 years of rule by the All India Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee and marks the first time the BJP has governed the eastern state of more than 100 million people.

Voter turnout reached nearly 93 percent. The BJP held power in Assam, gained the union territory of Puducherry and saw the defeat of a longtime rival in Tamil Nadu by a new anti-corruption party.

The BJP had never governed West Bengal in its 46-year history. The scale of the victory gives the party a clear mandate to form the next state government, with its state chief positioned to become chief minister. The outcome further fragments the national opposition alliance that had gained momentum after the BJP’s narrower-than-expected national win in 2024.

Two of the parties defeated last week had been key members of that alliance.

Election officials described the removal of nearly 9 million names from West Bengal’s voter rolls — about 12 percent of the electorate — as part of a nationwide effort to remove ineligible voters. The deletions occurred before the vote.

Two days after results were declared, attackers blocked the vehicle of a BJP aide named Rath and fired around a dozen shots, striking him multiple times in the heart, police said. The BJP’s state chief called the killing “cold-blooded murder.” Police have not announced any arrests or identified a motive. Officials have not linked the killing to the election outcome.

Bangladesh, which shares a border with West Bengal, followed the results closely. Party leaders have stated that a BJP-led government in the state will adopt a harder line on illegal immigration than its predecessor. Dhaka has been seeking to improve ties with New Delhi since the 2024 change of government in Bangladesh.

The BJP’s string of state victories since mid-2024 has helped restore momentum after it was forced into a national coalition government for the first time. Party leaders now express confidence about prospects for a fourth consecutive national term in 2029.

The party’s performance this week rested on anti-incumbency sentiment, economic concerns and the setbacks suffered by opposition parties rather than solely on its own national agenda, according to Foreign Policy.