Modi’s party wins control of India’s West Bengal in a key state election

NEW DELHI (AP)

— Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist party has wrested control of the opposition stronghold of West Bengal in a key state election.

The Election Commission of India released partial results Monday showing the Bharatiya Janata Party won at least 124 seats in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly and was leading in 83 others.

Modi’s party has never governed West Bengal and had tried for years to oust the All India Trinamool Congress government led by state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. She is one of Modi’s most prominent critics and has held power in the politically influential state since 2011.

Opposition parties have sharply criticized the polls in West Bengal after the Election Commission removed millions of voters from electoral rolls.

Governments were ousted in two other states and Modi’s party retained power in another that held elections in April.

India has more than 1.4 billion people in 28 states and eight federal territories, and elections are staggered with several states and territories voting every year.

India’s opposition faces a setback

The result in West Bengal was expected to boost Modi’s standing and strengthen his position midway through his third term in office. The 2024 national election forced his ruling party to rely on regional allies to form a government. He is expected to run for a records fourth term in 2029.

Addressing supporters at BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Modi said the results pointed to the party’s broadening appeal in a state where it had historically struggled.

“A new chapter has been added to Bengal’s destiny,” Modi told a cheering crowd.

India’s opposition has struggled to mount a unified and sustained challenge to the BJP’s dominance nationwide.

Banerjee had emerged as one of Modi’s most prominent national rivals, particularly after positioning herself as a key leader to unit regional parties against the BJP. Her defeat was likely to weaken her leverage within an opposition bloc already divided by regional power struggles.

Film star-turned-politician scores breakthrough win

In the Southern state of Tamil Nadu, popular movie star Joseph Vijay, who launched the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party only two years ago, ousted the ruling DMK party. Tamil Nadu, one of India’s most developed states, has a history of electing movie stars to the top office.

In Kerala, another southern state, the Indian National Congress-led opposition defeated the ruling Communist government, ending leftist rule in one of its last remaining strongholds.

Modi’s party also returned to power in the northeastern state of Assam for a third consecutive term.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck a conciliatory note on Monday as he celebrated the BJP’s landmark victory in Bengal, declaring “Banglay poriborton hoyechche” while underlining “badla nahi, badlav” — change, not revenge.

Donning dhuti-panjabi as he addressed party workers at the BJP headquarters, Modi urged restraint and requested all parties to end Bengal’s entrenched “cycle of violence”, issuing an appeal against post-poll clashes.Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck a conciliatory note on Monday as he celebrated the BJP’s landmark victory in Bengal, declaring “Banglay poriborton hoyechche” while underlining “badla nahi, badlav” — change, not revenge.

Donning dhuti-panjabi as he addressed party workers at the BJP headquarters, Modi urged restraint and requested all parties to end Bengal’s entrenched “cycle of violence”, issuing an appeal against post-poll clashes.Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck a conciliatory note on Monday as he celebrated the BJP’s landmark victory in Bengal, declaring “Banglay poriborton hoyechche” while underlining “badla nahi, badlav” — change, not revenge.

Donning dhuti-panjabi as he addressed party workers at the BJP headquarters, Modi urged restraint and requested all parties to end Bengal’s entrenched “cycle of violence”, issuing an appeal against post-poll clashes.

Today, as Bengal enters a new phase of change, I also want to make an sincere appeal to every political party in Bengal,” he said.

“Over the past decades in Bengal, countless lives have been ruined because of political violence. I firmly believe that these electoral habits of Bengal must change from today onwards.”

Modi said the BJP victory should mark a shift towards development and stability.

“When the BJP wins, the talk should not be of revenge but of change. Not of fear but of the future,” he said, as chants of “Modi, Modi” punctuated his speech.

The Prime Minister dedicated the victory to the people of Bengal and BJP workers, while promising firm action against “ghuspetiyas” (infiltrators) and announcing the rollout of Ayushman Bharat, which the outgoing Mamata Banerjee government had avoided implementing.

“I want to assure every citizen of Bengal that the BJP will work relentlessly towards a better future for Bengal. Now, in Bengal, women will be safe, youths will get employment, and migration will stop,” Modi said.

Modi added: “At the first cabinet meeting, the Ayushman Yojana will be cleared…And strict action will be taken against infiltrators.”

He said the BJP’s huge win was a “hoonkar” (roar) by the people to uproot the politics of “fear and appeasement”.

He invoked Syama Prasad Mookerjee — who founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the BJP’s predecessor, in 1951 — saying his legacy had found vindication in the party’s victory.

He recalled Mookerjee’s attempts to keep Bengal within India, prompting slogans from party workers celebrating the moment.

Modi said that with the Bengal victory, the BJP-NDA now ruled the entire stretch from Gangotri to Ganga Sagar.

“From Gangotri to Ganga Sagar, it is the lotus in full bloom,” he said, citing the party’s presence in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and now Bengal as a sign of expanding political consolidation.

Modi underlined that for the first time in almost half a century, India would not have a single Left-ruled state.

With the defeat of the LDF in Kerala, the Left finds itself without power in any state for the first time since 1977 — a development Modi called a “major shift in Indian politics”.

He used the occasion to target the Congress, accusing it of aligning with a “declining” communist ideology.

“This is not merely a political shift; it’s a shift in mindset. Today’s India seeks opportunity, development, trust, progress and stability,” Modi said.

While “Maoism is in its last breath in the forests”, he said, “urban Naxals are crowding the Congress”.

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