FESTIVITIES OVER, BENGAL STEPS INTO ELECTION MODE

BJP’s state observer, co-observer land in Kolkata as BJP, TMC gear up for polls

- SUPROTIM MUKHERJEE

The lights at Durga Puja pandals may still be flickering across West Bengal, with many idols yet to be immersed, but the State's political leaders are already hunkering down for a long and potentially bruising electoral battle.

With roughly seven months to go before the Assembly polls, Bengal appears set for yet another polarising political duel.

Barely a day after Vijaya Dashami officially marked the end of Bengal’s grandest festival, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its challenger, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have shifted decisively into campaign mode for the 2026 Assembly elections.

On Friday morning, central BJP heavyweights Bhupender Yadav and Biplab Kumar Deb touched down in Kolkata. Designated as the party's observer and co-observer for the Bengal polls, their presence so soon after the Puja break underscored the urgency of the saffron camp's preparations. They were received at the airport by state BJP chief Shamik Bhattacharya, MP Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato, and others before diving into back-to-back strategy meetings.

At the BJP’s Salt Lake office, Yadav and Deb joined BJP’s Bengal brain trust, including Suvendu Adhikari, Sukanta Majumdar, Locket Chatterjee and key organizational figures, in a closed-door huddle.

According to insiders, discussions zoomed in on constituency-level arithmetic—particularly seats where the party lost narrowly in 2021 and pockets where it performed strongly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“The focus is entirely on electoral gains and losses. Every reshuffle of district units, every assignment of responsibility will now be made after analysing the math,” a senior BJP functionary said after the session.

The BJP’s central leadership has also pressed its state unit to engage vigorously with the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, scheduled after the Puja season.