5 min readMay 5, 2026 06:42 AM IST
First published on: May 5, 2026 at 06:14 AM IST
The West Bengal assembly results bear an unequivocal message from the state’s people against appeasement politics. The Trinamool Congress government not only practised Muslim appeasement, it also failed to address the anxieties of Hindus about the state’s demographic transformation. The change is a result of a gap in the fertility rates between the Hindus and Muslims, as well as the influx of people from Bangladesh. Mamata Banerjee, who once fought against Left coercion and won the hearts of the people, lost sight of socio-economic realities and slipped into vote-bank politics. BJP, in contrast, acknowledged the state’s realities and articulated its politics accordingly. Credit goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving direction to the party’s campaign in a state where it lacked strong leadership as well as cadres. In the past, this prevented the consolidation of votes in the party’s favour. By leading the campaign, Modi turned disadvantage into an advantage.
In other states, the BJP has dismantled the tradition of one or two state leaders being seen as faces of the party. Its success rate has been more than expected. West Bengal is the latest example of the strategy’s success.
The victory is special for the RSS fraternity in its centenary year. Its founder, K B Hedgewar, was a part of the revolutionary organisation, Anushilan Samiti, as a medicine student in Kolkata. West Bengal has always been a priority area for the party. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, a prominent Hindu Mahasabha leader and later the founder President of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, was from West Bengal. In the 1952 Lok Sabha elections, Mookerjee and Durgacharan Banerjee from the BJS emerged victorious, and the party secured 5.6 per cent votes in the state assembly polls. However, the martyrdom of Mookerjee, while he was endeavouring towards the complete integration of J&K into the country, created a leadership void. For decades, the BJS and its successor, the BJP, remained only a symbolic force in West Bengal.
The abrogation of Article 370 was a tribute to both Mookerjee and his mother, Jogmaya Devi, who did not get any answer to the question she asked then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru about the controversial death of her son.
The defeat of the Red-Green ideological club is the completion of the political cycle that began with the participation of BJS candidates in the 1952 elections. The BJP’s vote share today is almost nine times what it was in the 1952 elections. The victory gives immense psychological satisfaction to the votaries of Hindutva across the country. It will become part of the RSS’s centenary celebrations.
Bengal is the home of intellectual giants who made their mark in the anti-imperialist movement. It came under a communal cloud, particularly Muslim polarisation, instigated by the viceroy Lord Curzon. The partition of Bengal in 1905 was an attack on its identity. The Direct Action in 1946 by the Muslim League led to the killing of innocent Hindus and left a terrible memory in people’s minds. These wounds shouldn’t have festered had the political class been alert to what had divided the people in the past. Instead, they perpetuated Curzon’s policies for the sake of power.
No society can remain impervious to the challenges posed by changing demographics. In Dying Race, U N Mukerji wrote, “ Can the figures of the last Census be regarded in any sense as the forerunner of an Islamic or Christian revival which will threaten the citadel of Hinduism. Or will Hinduism hold its own in the future as it has done through the long ages of the past?” He was referring to the 1901 Census. But the warning fell on deaf ears in the era of Mahatma Gandhi and the Nehrus. Post-independence politics also ignored demographic imbalance.
BJP has successfully aroused the consciousness of the Hindus. In the 2016 elections to the West Bengal Assembly, it secured 10.3 per cent of the vote, which increased threefold in 2021. Now it has more than 45 per cent of the votes.
Modi symbolises two things. One, he is a guilt-free votary of anti-appeasement politics and can strike a chord with common people. This is also a message to the intellectual class of the country that they remain disconnected from the psychology and aspirations of the people. Two, Modi symbolises time-bound and target-oriented development. He has lifted the country’s development process from the complexities of ideologies.
The people of Bengal have expressed their aspirations for better governance and the reversal of the pre-partition politics. They have sent a strong message to parties — anti-Hindutva politics has no future.
The writer is a former Rajya Sabha member from the BJP
