With a population of more than 100 million, West Bengal is the fourth largest state in India. It has always been an important target for the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), but despite the electoral success of Narendra Modi’s party across the whole country in recent years, West Bengal always bucked the trend.
Rather than buy into Modi’s Hindu nationalist vision, Bengali voters have traditionally been influenced by a strong sense of regional identity. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) government deliberately cultivated this when in office between 2011 and 2026. It presented itself as the defender of the state’s language, culture and way of life.
