The 2021 West Bengal assembly election, spanning eight phases from March 27 to April 29, marked the longest such process in India's history for a state assembly poll. Covering 292 constituencies (with two held later), it unfolded over more than a month amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which influenced the Election Commission's decision for staggered voting to manage logistics and health risks. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) aggressively challenged the incumbent All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Mamata Banerjee, deploying national leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for extensive campaigning. Despite high visibility and a vote share rise to around 38%, the BJP secured only 77 seats against the TMC's 213, with the TMC retaining power emphatically.

Five years on, as the 2026 assembly election approaches, the political landscape has shifted markedly. During the recent three-day visit by the Chief Election Commissioner-led full bench to West Bengal, where individual meetings occurred with all major parties, the BJP made an unexpected demand: hold the polls in a single phase, or at most two if one proves impossible. This stance aligns with similar calls from the CPI(M)-led Left Front and Congress, contrasting sharply with 2021 when the BJP favoured a prolonged schedule. The reversal stems from hard-earned lessons about how multi-phase polling disproportionately benefits the TMC's entrenched strengths while exposing the BJP's persistent........

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