Analysis: How BJP Is Countering Trinamool's Rhetoric With Muted Campaign

In contrast to its high-decibel 2021 campaign, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has opted for a rather muted tone in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly election campaign trail. The party, which was successful in replacing the Left as the main opposition in the state, hopes to unseat West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is seeking her fourth term in office.

With the dates for the two-phase elections approaching, the ruling Trinamool Congress -- which has centred its election campaign around the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) exercise -- has adopted an aggressive posture against the BJP, accusing the ruling party at the Centre of using the Election Commission of India for disenfranchising "legitimate" voters. In response, the BJP has largely remained silent in its poll rallies on the vexed issue, only relying on press conferences to convey its message to the masses that the voter list needed a "clean up" to ensure "infiltrators" from across international borders (read Muslims) were kept out of the electoral exercise.

Election fever has caught on across the state, where the traditional atmospherics have changed from being a festival of democracy -- with colourful flags, innovative wall writings, and singing bands performing on political themes -- to an open bipolar battle for Bengal between the Trinamool and the BJP. What could spring a surprise on the counting day is an undercurrent of voter sentiment.

With 91 lakh voters out of the voting list due to SIR, both sides are wary of who the "undercurrent" will play against. While the Trinamool Congress claims the "undercurrent" is the anger of voters who have lost their voting rights, the BJP says it is linked to the anger against the ruling party's alleged "syndicate raj".

The BJP has turned its campaign to local issues rather than mounting an attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, moving away from the "Didi O Didi" pitch of 2021. The previous campaign was perceived by a section of voters as a derogatory jibe at the Chief Minister.

In his rallies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who leads the BJP's campaign in the state, has talked about topics like West Bengal getting rid of "infiltration of illegal migrants" from across the border, dismantling of "jungle raj" or restoring law and order in the state and "protecting and uplifting women".

Without relying on a 2021-like shrill campaign, the BJP has banked on its core issues to impress voters this time. To reach out to the Hindu voters in the state, the party has vowed to stop infiltration, linking it to minority votes in the state and alleged corruption in the Trinamool Congress regime.

BJP leaders, to offset Trinamool's charge that it will ban fish and meat in Bengal, can be seen being photographed with fresh fish in their hands. At a press conference on April 19, BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said, "We will celebrate with a feast of fish and rice when BJP wins on May 4".

Swapan Dasgupta, the BJP's candidate from South Kolkata's Rashbehari constituency, said that the party wants to provide the people of Bengal an alternative to Mamata Banerjee's government.

"BJP is fighting to provide an alternative to the Mamata Banerjee government, and we want to form a government in Bengal," he said.