Suvendu Adhikari vows BJP win on all 42 Bengal LS seats in 2029
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday, 7 October 2026, declared that the people of West Bengal would hand the BJP victories across all 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state in the 2029 general elections. Adhikari made the assertion while addressing an event in Vadnagar, Gujarat — the hometown of Prime Minister Narendra Modi — marking 25 years of Modi's public administrative journey as Gujarat Chief Minister and subsequently as Prime Minister.
Adhikari's Key Claims
'In West Bengal, I am trying to replicate the kind of development work that has been achieved in Gujarat,' Adhikari said at the event. He credited Prime Minister Modi with teaching 1.4 billion people the mantra of 'Nation above all', and claimed that welfare of the poor and curbing of terrorism had been delivered under Modi's leadership. He also asserted that, after 50 years, a nationalist government had finally been established in West Bengal.
Sharp Attacks on Left Front and Trinamool Congress
Adhikari trained his fire on both the former Left Front government and the incumbent All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) administration in West Bengal. He alleged that the two political formations together had created a threat to national security. Specifically, he claimed that more than three lakh Bangladeshis had been expelled from Gujarat after reportedly entering India through the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal. According to Adhikari, approximately 600 km of the international border with Bangladesh had effectively remained open during the TMC's tenure in the state.
Border Security and BSF Land Pledge
Adhikari further stated that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had committed in an election manifesto to provide land to the Border Security Force (BSF) within 45 days of the BJP coming to power in West Bengal. Adhikari claimed that this commitment had since been fulfilled, and asserted that Prime Minister Modi had guaranteed the overall development of West Bengal. The BJP is currently in opposition in West Bengal, where the TMC under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee holds power.
Context and Political Significance
The BJP won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in the 2019 general elections, a tally that dropped to 12 in the 2024 elections, with the TMC consolidating its position. Adhikari's pledge to sweep all 42 seats in 2029 is an ambitious electoral target and signals the BJP's intent to mount an aggressive campaign in the state well ahead of the next cycle. This comes amid the broader national context of the party seeking to expand its footprint in states where regional outfits continue to dominate. Whether the BJP's renewed focus on border security and development narratives can translate into seat gains remains to be seen as 2029 approaches.