The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has suffered a crushing defeat in West Bengal, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leading in 184 of the state's 294 seats. The TMC's strategy to label central leaders as 'anti-Bengali' and 'bahiragato' (outsiders) failed to yield results, as anti-incumbency sentiment fueled by corruption allegations took center stage.
Corruption charges against senior TMC leaders in chit fund cases and other scandals appeared to have fueled the anti-incumbency against the TMC. Political scientist Maidul Islam attributed the BJP's success to the 'corruption factor' and the alleged arrogance of TMC leaders.
Despite fielding 78 members from the scheduled caste community, 17 from scheduled tribes, 47 Muslims, and 55 women, the TMC's social welfare schemes and monthly monetary assistance programmes failed to work in their favor. The BJP's record turnout of 93.19% in Phase-1 and 92.67% in Phase 2 was seen as a sign of the TMC's downfall.
TMC chief Mamata Banerjee claimed that the BJP circulated false exit poll numbers, but the results told a different story. Almost all TMC ministers were trailing their BJP rivals at 1:30 pm on Monday, with a shopkeeper in Kolkata's Gariahat market saying, 'People were tired of the TMC, especially its local leaders who extorted money from us every week.'
