A battle for India is drawing to a close in West Bengal

West Bengal is a battleground state, and will send the largest contingent of MPs after Uttar Pradesh (80) and Maharashtra (48).

A marathon seven-phase electioneering in West Bengal comes to an end on May 30, amid devastation by the Remal cyclone and after a fierce and no-holds-barred campaigning by the Trinamool Congress and the BJP. The latter has set a target of winning 30 of the 42 seats and the former is all out to protect its control over the state and restrict the BJP's count to a single digit number.

Violence, fake videos, abusive advertisements and sting operations were all part of the campaign drama as both parties refused to play by the Model Code of Conduct in their efforts to win the most important battle in the east of India.

In the midst of this potboiler, there emerged a different style of campaigning from the CPI-M, a party that may not win seats, but could yet make a difference in many of the Constituencies.

In alliance with its old rival, the Congress, the Left party is fighting two battles at the same time, against the BJP at the Centre and the TMC in the state. But the attempts to keep the focus on jobs and livelihoods were crowded out by the war of words between the BJP and the TMC. The party, however, is hoping to cut into the freshly formed BJP vote share by building back its former support base that was raided by the saffron brigade.

Party insiders insist that their candidates will hurt the BJP more than the TMC and that they will not whittle down the INDIA bloc's winning chances.
West Bengal is a battleground state, and will send the largest contingent of MPs after Uttar Pradesh (80) and Maharashtra (48). As the election reaches the business end, and a close contest is on the cards at the national level, even a small swing in vote percentages in West Bengal could have huge implications for the formation of the next government in New Delhi.
The campaign was, therefore, not short of vitriol and both the Election Commission and the courts had to step in at different points.

While the BJP does not have political heavyweights contesting from the state, since its rapid growth was quite recent, the Trinamool chose from an array of sportspersons and television personalities. The TMC’s most important candidate is Abhishek Banerjee, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew. Mahua Moitra, who became the party's face in Delhi, is another prime candidate. The cricketers and entertainment industry stalwarts, including Shatrughan Sinha, were chosen on the popularity matrix, and not because of what they bring to the party organisation or to parliament debates.

For the BJP, their trump card is Suvendu Adhikari and his family who hold sway over the Medinipur region and who have migrated from TMC to BJP. Having won the Nandigram Assembly seat in 2021, defeating the Chief Minister by 1,956 votes, Adhikari, West Bengal Assembly opposition leader, has made the Tamluk constituency the core of BJP's prestige battle with TMC. His younger brother, Soumendu Adhikari, is contesting the Kanthi constituency, in the backyard of the Adhikari home.

The BJP also brought in two surprise candidates:  the alleged victim of Sandeshkhali sexual violence Rekha Patra as the candidate of Basirhat constituency and Amrita Roy from the erstwhile royal family to contest against TMC's Mahua Moitra in Krishnanagar.

For the CPI(M), the veteran Mohammad Salim, contesting in Murshidabad, is their best hope, although the party has fielded a battery of youngsters. For the Congress, their floor leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary is seen as a sure bet, but he is facing stiff competition from TMC's Yousuf Pathan.

The last phase got an unexpected twist in the form of Cyclone Remal, and both the Centre and the state government focused attention on mitigation and relief measures. After a tumultuous campaign, Bengal could very well decide who gets to run India.