With a population of more than 100 million, West Bengal is the fourth largest state in India. It has always been an important target for the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), but despite the electoral success of Narendra Modi’s party across the whole country in recent years, West Bengal always bucked the trend.

Rather than buy into Modi’s Hindu nationalist vision, Bengali voters have traditionally been influenced by a strong sense of regional identity. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) government deliberately cultivated this when in office between 2011 and 2026. It presented itself as the defender of the state’s language, culture and way of life.

Banerjee argued vociferously during debates over citizenship that Modi and the BJP were trying to smear Bengali speakers, particularly in border regions, as “illegal immigrants”.

The TMC also highlighted central government’s attempts to promote a Hindu model of vegetarianism as being at odds with Bengal’s pluralistic traditions, where fish, meat and eggs are staple foods consumed across religious communities.

As a result, the BJP was not just competing against an incumbent government. It was going up against a strong political identity that presented itself as the guardian of Bengal’s traditionally pluralistic culture and way of life.

So the BJP victory over TMC in May represented a significant electoral upset. More so, because West Bengal was the last major state where BJP had been unable to........

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