BJP lost LS seats in Bengal where Modi campaigned: TMC
Kolkata: After reducing the BJP to 12 seats in the Lok Sabha elections in Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday said that the saffron brigade lost the majority of seats where Narendra Modi had campaigned.
The bigwigs of the BJP, including Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, visited Bengal frequently for campaigns to garner the support of the electorates.
The same was also apparent in the 2021 Assembly elections. However, what became apparent is that on both occasions it was TMC which benefited from the same.
In 2021 state elections, Trinamool returned with a landslide victory while in 2024 Parliamentary polls it was able to take its seat tally to 29 from 22.
The BJP which had gained 18 seats in the 2019 elections, got reduced to 12 this time.
Amidst such a scenario, TMC leaders think that despite holding over 20 public meetings, including roadshows, between March and May, the election results showed that BJP was routed in most of the seats in Bengal where its star campaigner Narendra Modi had campaigned.
It was pointed out that the saffron brigade even lost the seats it bagged in the 2019 LS polls.
According to TMC, in constituencies such as Barasat, Arambagh and Krishnanagar, Modi held public meetings both before and after the announcement of the election dates. However, the saffron camp got trounced in these three constituencies.
Further, it was highlighted that the BJP was defeated in seats like Malda South, Burdwan-Durgapur, Burdwan East, Bolpur and Uluberia where both Modi and Amit Shah had campaigned for the party.
Additionally, Modi has also campaigned in seats such as Cooch Behar, Barrackpore, Hooghly, Bankura, Medinipur, Ghatal, Howrah, Jadavpur and Mathurapur but the saffron brigade failed to make a mark in any of these seats.
In 2019, BJP had won Midnapore, Jhargram, Barrackpore, Hooghly and Cooch Behar.
It was pointed out that of the constituencies in Bengal where Modi held public meetings, the
BJP won only four seats, which include Jalpaiguri, Purulia, Bishnupur and Contai.In addition to this, the BJP also got defeated in two seats—Berhampore and Kolkata South—where Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda had campaigned, respectively.
Taking a jibe at the BJP for failing to clinch a victory in Bengal, TMC’s national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP-elect Abhishek Banerjee, said: “A month back, these people from the BJP were flying down to Bengal, lecturing the people saying ‘give us 30 seats and this government will not survive’. Now see the irony, today, I am being asked if the NDA government would survive or not. The people of India have given their mandate through EVM.” He further added: “Never underestimate the power of the common man!”
