Eye on 2026 Bengal polls, TMC, BJP set out to recover lost ground in festive season

"Bijoya sammilanis were held earlier also but the leadership wanted it to be organised more extensively this year so that our workers can reach out to citizens in all 42 Lok Sabha and 294 assembly constituencies in Bengal. This was done primarily in view of the drop in TMC's vote share in several district towns, both small and big, and pockets of Kolkata in the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year," a senior TMC functionary said on Tuesday, asking not to be named.

The TMC bagged 29 Lok Sabha seats this year while BJP lost substantial ground, sliding from its record score of 18 in 2019 to only 12. The Congress, which won only two seats in 2019, lost former state president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's apparently impregnable Berhampore constituency as well.

Despite this success, chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the TMC chairperson, did not suppress her feelings on Monday while inaugurating a pandal at her Bhawanipore assembly constituency in Kolkata ahead of the October 31 Kali Puja, which is widely celebrated across the state.

"I am grateful that you supported me but I studied the Lok Sabha results at the booths here. I saw that for every 900 votes in a booth, we got only one. Why should this happen? This spoils the cordial relationship we share," Banerjee told a crowd at the pandal at Shakespeare Sarani, a posh cosmopolitan neighbourhood with a sizeable number of business establishments.

"Many of you live in multi-storied apartments. If you are living in Bengal, doing business in Bengal then you should love Bengal. Consider Bengal your home. Some people divide the ballot box among Bengalis and non-Bengalis. Please don't do this," Banerjee added without naming any rival party.

TMC leaders said that out of the 144 municipal wards in Kolkata, the BJP was ahead of the ruling party in 47 wards. Of these, 44 were won by TMC in the 2021 civic body polls. If seen in terms of assembly constituencies, TMC lost two in the Lok Sabha polls in the Kolkata region. The BJP won only 75 assembly seats in Bengal in 2021 while TMC bagged 215.

"Booth-level analysis of the Lok Sabha results in other big municipal corporation areas, such as Durgapur and Asansol in West Burdwan district, Siliguri in north Bengal and Salt Lake on the eastern outskirts of Kolkata showed the BJP ahead of TMC in numerous pockets although we managed to win the Lok Sabha areas," a TMC minister, who also asked not to be named, said.

"Although this trend was noticed in several elections since 2011 when we ousted the Left Front, Didi (Banerjee) has taken a serious note of the recent results in view of the 2026 state polls," he added.

Organised amid mass protests in urban areas over the August 9 rape and murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, TMC's Bijaya sammilanis are not mere political events, the party's district leaders said.

"Although TMC district leaders, MLAs and even MPs are addressing party supporters at these events essentially to spread the leadership's message, we are inviting local citizens and even BJP leaders. The idea is to strengthen social harmony," an event organiser from the Hooghly district said.

The Bijaya sammilanis have been held without a break with the numbers increasing every day. While only eight were organised on October 17, the number reached 86 on October 20 when TMC announced its six candidates for the November 13 assembly by-polls and peaked at 144 on October 27 when activities at the saffron camp gathered momentum.

During a one-day visit to Bengal on October 27, Union home minister Amit Shah instructed state BJP leaders to increase the number of party members in the state to 10 million so that TMC can be defeated in 2026.

Bengal BJP registered 10 million members during the last six-yearly drive in 2018 but the number has come down as many left the party and some died, state leaders said.

The membership drive should be the BJP state unit's prime objective, said Shah. "Our biggest goal now is to set up a BJP government in Bengal in 2026. I am saying we will cross the 10 million mark. This drive in other states means strengthening our organization but in Bengal, it is a mission to end infiltration, rampant corruption, cattle smuggling and insult of women" Shah said while launching the membership drive.

Unlike the last drive in which anyone could become a BJP member by simply dialling a number, the current one makes it mandatory for an applicant to fill up an e-form sent to his mobile phone.

BJP national general secretary Sunil Bansal, who is in charge of the Bengal unit, announced at the launch that any primary party member successfully enrolling 100 more would be considered an active member and be entitled to a portfolio.

Bengal BJP's chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said Shah focused solely on the membership drive during his interaction with state leaders. "We will achieve our goal. A Bijaya sammilani is an old Bengali tradition that follows the immersion of the idol of Goddess Durga. TMC is following it with such enthusiasm because it knows that its immersion is imminent," said Bhattacharya.

"If you study the 2024 Lok Sabha poll results, you will see that more than 50% of the state's majority community voters supported us. They comprise around 70 % of the population and we secured 38% votes overall," he added.