On 29 th April, the deadline of West Bengal’s 2026 Assembly elections, the state was entering into its final and deciding phase amidst high competition, security presence and voter’s focus in all the districts. The second and last phase of the voting is happening on 142 seats which includes Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas Howrah Hooghly, Nadia and Purba Bardhaman identified as some of the main urban and political centers of the state.Over 3.
21 crore voters are estimated to be eligible to cast vote in this phase. The contest is mainly between the ruling All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) represented in the state by Suvendu Adhikari, both of whom have turned this election into a duel of prestige. The last stage isn’t just about securing seatsit is about dictating the future political direction of one of the most politically important states in the country.
Scale of the Final Phase
This final phase will include 142 constituencies of the total 294 in West Bengal. It includes some of the most high-profile candidates, such as Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari, and is therefore symbolically and politically important. As a result of this, the Election Commission has called the phase the most sensitive yet because of the potential for political violence and the strategic salience of the constituencies. Since it’s the last session of voting every seat counts.
Political parties have put all their effort in the past three weeks into a large drive to canvass and mobilize voters. The result would determine whether TMC tries to maintain its stranglehold or BJP finally manages to make inroads in the state. For the voters it’s a choice between the known and the unknown.
Massive Security Deployment
Peaceful and fair polling would require extensive security and Election Commission has made arrangements of such a big scale that the largest ever in the history of state elections. Over 2,300 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been sent to maintain law and order at polling stations and 38,297 state police personnel have been deployed. It’s reportedly being called a ‘fortess’ on poll day.
Bengal in pressingly tense but it has also been used for the surveillance of specific targets, as a complement to physical deployment, with droned surveillance, cycle patrols, route marches and NIA teams all being used in particularly contentious areas. Over 2,300 individuals with known criminal antecedents were said to have been rounded up in the run up to the polling in order to pre-empt political violence.
This heavy policing is again a reflection of the heightened concern about violence surrounding the elections, which has often been the defining feature of election politics in the state.
Political Clash Between TMC and BJP
Repeated fights between TMC and BJP workers characterised the election campaign, with scores of reports of clashes leading to injuries and the destruction of campaign posters, rallies and chieftainery from across the state. This mostly happened in the run-up to the main campaign visits. Both sides have attacked each other over intimidation and abuses of administrative power.
BJP sharpened its campaign on the three ‘Rs’anti-corruption, law and order and political violence, whereas Trinamool has launched a vigorous defence of its governance model through deriding BJP’s political project by alleging, among other things, reliance on central agencies to put pressure. And the election campaign took on an extra edge, beyond a democratic contest, as a battle over narrative and political survival. Mamata Banerjee-BJP rivalry injected into it a strong personal and symbolic dimension.
Voter Participation and Public Mood
Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister, implored voters to turnout “in record numbers”, most notably women and youth, and assured them that it was the participation that would determined the future of the state. In the first phase of polling held on 23 April, the turnout was 93 percent and such a strong show of participation is expected in the last phase too, given the manic campaigning and political pressure.
The mood amongst the electorate seem to be split. There are those who are concerned about local issues of development such as jobs, roads and public services but there are others voting on the basis of larger political identity, ideology and national political messages. The Bengal election seems therefore particularly difficult.
Importance for National Politics
While this is a state election, its political implications reach well beyond West Bengal. For Mamata Banerjee, a decisive win would bolster her standing as one of the most influential opposition leaders on the national stage; For BJP, a stronger showing in Bengal would illustrate its steady emergence outside its traditional heartlands and bolster its national political strength.
The outcome will have implications for future alliance politics, opposition cohesion, and leadership debates as national elections loom. West Bengal is one of the few states where saffron forces have dared to contest a strong regional party and hence election in this state carries national issues into focus for all national leaders.
Challenges to Free and Fair Elections
While the environment was conducive overall, there were still criticisms about voter intimidation, at booth level and violence around sensitive areas. Election observers and civil society groups highlighted the importance of independence and transparency. Further, the appeal tribunals reinstating over 1,400 names of voters that were previously deleted from the list prior to the elections caused further focus on management of the list.
In establishing such a process it’s exactly as important to ensure the public space as it’s to have peace on polling day. The politics of the elections will always be engaged in the elections properbut voters will find it easier to have confidence in the process if it’s transparently state of the art, even for those irregularities that are most unlikely not to be exploited.
