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ISLAMABAD: Bharatiya Janata Party&rsquo;s (BJP) victory in West Bengal marked the completion of a &ldquo;ruthlessly crafted mission&rdquo; that brought down the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government and pushed India closer to a unitary, majoritarian political order, The Wire reported on Friday. The Election Commission of India and the BJP acted as &ldquo;close collaborators&rdquo; in a process that weakened the TMC in one of India&rsquo;s most politically important states, TMC and other BJP opposition parties have been consistently claiming. Around 2.7 million voters were disenfranchised because &ldquo;logical discrepancies&rdquo; in voter records could not be resolved in time due to the controversial &lsquo;Special Intensive Revision&rsquo; (SIR). The episode has been described as an unprecedented breach of the constitutional requirement for free and fair elections. The vote difference between the BJP and TMC was around 3 million, making the exclusion of 2.7 million voters politically significant, especially because several seats were won or lost by margins below 5,000 votes. Some left-wing groups had openly used the slogan &ldquo;pehle Ram, phir Vaam,&rdquo; meaning first the party of Ram, i.e. the BJP, then the poltitical left. The BJP campaign played the communal card as much as possible and appealed to Bengalis as Hindus in unusually direct terms. The Election Commission and political establishment were criticized for ignoring constitutional restrictions against religious appeals during campaigns. The TMC was attacked for allegedly appeasing Muslims, while BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari reportedly said only Hindus had voted for him. The BJP also did not field a single Muslim candidate in the West Bengal elections. Bengal&rsquo;s fall to BJP advanced its alleged goal of building a one-party right-wing state that treats federalism as a threat to national unity, Indian media reported. Such a project could eventually turn India into a majoritarian theocracy, reported The Wire.

India

The Wire reported that BJP’s Bengal victory weakened Trinamool Congress, disenfranchised millions, intensified Hindutva politics, and pushed India closer to a unitary majoritarian state before 2029.

BJP’s Bengal win brings India closer to unitary Hindutva state: Indian media

ISLAMABAD: Amid allegations of misconduct in the West Bengal elections by the Election Commission of India and the ruling BJP, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee refused to resign and to go to Raj Bhavan (Governor&rsquo;s Residence) during a Tuesday press conference, local media reported.&nbsp;After a ruling party is removed from power, it is customary in India for the chief minister to go to the State Governor&#39;s residence and submit their resignation to the Governor.&nbsp;The West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, however, has vowed not to do so, claiming that she has not been defeated and that &quot;the question does not arise for her to go to Raj Bhavan.&quot;&nbsp;Banerjee called the Indian Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, the &ldquo;villain of this election,&rdquo; and alleged that the Election Commission &ldquo;looted&rdquo; the electronic voting machines and the democratic rights of the Bengali people. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2051623385093075161&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fmedia-library%2F&sessionId=6764356bf78f1f599ddd25af124c2d2417e39a66&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 624px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>Mamata has also accused the Election Commission of working at the behest of the ruling party in the center, the BJP.&nbsp;&quot;Two days before the election, they started arresting our people. They started raiding everywhere. They changed all IPS and IAS officers. They selected people from their party, and the BJP played the game directly with the Election Commission. It is a battle between the BJP and the Election Commission,&quot; Banerjee said.&nbsp;She also lamented the reduction of Bengal&rsquo;s electorate by more than 9 million voters under the infamous Special Intensive Revision, saying that Indian PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were actively complicit.&nbsp;The BJP won a two-thirds majority in West Bengal&#39;s controversial elections, defeating Banerjee&rsquo;s TMC, which had been in power for three consecutive terms.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claims she has not been defeated; accuses Election Commission of working at the behest of the BJP.

Articles tagged with "West Bengal Elections"

BJP’s Bengal win brings India closer to unitary Hindutva state: Indian media

India: Banerjee refuses to resign after accusing BJP of rigging elections