3 Things BJP's challenges in Bengal, women's reservation, and a case against Meta
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Mar 27, 2026 Vikas Pathak, political and constitutional reporter who breaks down the Women's Reservation Act and delimitation hurdles. Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata bureau chief with on-ground West Bengal election analysis. They discuss Bengal’s campaign strategies, BJP’s organisational limits and outsider tag, plans to implement women’s reservation by altering seat rules, and a US verdict on social media design and harm.
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Incumbency and Scams Are Hitting TMC Momentum
- Long incumbency is creating genuine anti-incumbency and corruption headwinds for the TMC in West Bengal.
- Ravik Bhattacharya cites multiple scams, many MLAs jailed, and 60 lakh voters under adjudication after SIR as concrete pressures on Mamata Banerjee's party.
TMC Replaced Many Incumbents To Repair Its Image
- TMC dropped 74 sitting MLAs to refresh its image ahead of polls while still fielding some tainted candidates.
- Ravik notes the party added many young faces and maintained ~30% female candidates as part of image-cleaning.
BJP Vote Share Rose But Grassroots Structure Remains Weak
- BJP grew rapidly in vote share from 2014 to 2021 but still faces organizational gaps and post-2021 violence setbacks in Bengal.
- Ravik highlights one-third of ~80,000 booths lack BJP organization and grassroots workers suffered violence after 2021.