The atmosphere inside counting centres in Kolkata on May 4 carried little uncertainty for the Bharatiya Janata Party. As round after round of counting progressed, BJP workers watched the leads grow stronger across West Bengal.
Counting trends showed the BJP moving past the majority mark in the West Bengal Assembly elections, placing the party in a commanding position against Mamata Banerjee and the All India Trinamool Congress. The BJP’s performance came after months of intensive planning led by party general secretary Sunil Bansal and senior leaders Bhupendra Yadav, Biplab Kumar Deb and Anil Malviya. The BJP leadership focused on a booth-level and neighbourhood-based campaign instead of relying only on large public rallies.
Since 2014, the BJP leadership has treated West Bengal as one of the toughest political challenges in the country. The state remained outside the BJP’s traditional support base for decades due to its distinct political culture, strong regional identity and the dominance of the Left and later the TMC.
Even after the BJP won 18 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal in 2019, many political observers believed Assembly elections would remain difficult for the party. The BJP’s defeat in the 2021 Assembly elections strengthened that belief. However, party strategists continued to expand the organisation quietly across districts and booths.
Who is Sunil Bansal?
The BJP placed organisational work at the centre of its Bengal strategy. The task fell largely on Sunil Bansal, who worked under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Bansal built his reputation through booth-level election management in states like Uttar Pradesh and Odisha. In Bengal, he focused less on large slogans and more on local organisational structures. Party workers identified polling booths, voter clusters and household-level networks across the state.
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West Bengal has around 80,000 polling stations. BJP insiders claimed that by the end of 2024, the party had formed active booth committees in more than 65,000 polling areas. The BJP believed this network gave the party an advantage in voter outreach, polling-day mobilisation and local communication.
The BJP also benefited from rising anti-incumbency against the TMC government after fifteen years in power. Corruption allegations linked to the school recruitment scam and other investigations became central campaign issues. BJP leaders repeatedly raised these matters during rallies and public meetings.
Who handled BJP’s Bengal campaign?
The Bengal campaign involved several senior BJP leaders and organisers. PM Modi and Amit Shah directed the political messaging, while BJP national general secretary BL Santhosh supervised organisational coordination.
Bhupendra Yadav managed political coordination and alliance planning. Mangal Pandey worked on cadre mobilisation and election management across districts.
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Amit Malviya led the BJP’s digital and communication strategy. The campaign focused heavily on issues such as the RG Kar case, the school recruitment controversy and attacks on the TMC government’s record.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya became one of the main campaign faces inside Bengal. State Sangathan Mantri Amitabh Bhattacharya managed the organisational structure on the ground. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari led the political attack against the TMC both inside the Assembly and during the election campaign.
PM Modi’s role
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the BJP’s high-voltage campaign in the state. His first major rally at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata drew massive crowds and boosted the morale of party workers. BJP leaders treated the rally as a key moment in the campaign.
During the election campaign, the BJP organised around 640 rallies and public events. PM Modi addressed 19 rallies and held two roadshows across several organisational districts in Bengal. Amit Shah held 29 rallies and 11 roadshows. BJP president Nitin Naveen also campaigned extensively in the state.
The BJP also focused on issues linked to women’s safety and youth outreach. The party gave tickets to candidates linked to the RG Kar case and families connected to the Sandeshkhali controversy. BJP workers also collected forms under programmes such as the Yuva Card and Matrishakti Card to directly connect with young voters and women.
As counting trends continued to favour the BJP, the results signalled one of the biggest political shifts in West Bengal in recent decades and placed Mamata Banerjee’s party under severe pressure.
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