India, the Opposition parties would be hoping, will, in 2029, think the way Bengal did in 2024. This is because the Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral footprint has diminished further in this state when compared to the last general elections. The BJP had set for itself an ambitious electoral target for Bengal; even the prime minister had claimed that Bengal would be the state where the BJP would perform the best. But the election results — the Trinamool Congress has bettered its tally from 2019 — have left the BJP’s dream in tatters. There are many reasons for the TMC’s commendable performance. The BJP had relied heavily, once again, on engineering fault lines in Bengal’s social fabric. But the ploy, evidently, has been rejected by the people of Bengal who took on the challenge to defend the state’s pluralist ethos. One important factor that helped neutralise the divisive sentiments was the TMC’s welfare programmes. Lakshmir Bhandar, a scheme that provides financial assistance to women in every household, mobilised women voters in the ruling party’s favour. The TMC’s allegation of the BJP withholding development funds meant for the state seems to have generated some resonance as well. The TMC’s organisational machinery — helmed by Abhishek Banerjee — delivered too.

The echoes of this election will linger. This is because Bengal will be voting for its next assembly in two years’ time. If the TMC succeeds in maintaining or building on this momentum, Bengal would continue to elude the grasp of the BJP as well as the other perpetual also-ran — the Congress-Left combination.