Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and winning candidate from Kharagpur, Dilip Ghosh, on Tuesday, 5 May credited the people of West Bengal for the party's sweeping electoral mandate, asserting that public sentiment — not institutional influence — had determined the outcome of the West Bengal Assembly election.

Ghosh on People's Verdict

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Ghosh was direct in framing the victory as a democratic verdict. "When the Congress was in power, they used to win. Was the Election Commission responsible for winning? Victory and defeat are in the hands of the people. People are the ultimate decision-makers," he said.

His remarks were seen as a pointed rebuttal to All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders who had questioned the role of institutions in the electoral process. Ghosh further said, "What they do to others — insults and disrespect — comes back to them in the same way. That is what is happening today with the All India Trinamool Congress in Bengal."

Sharp Criticism of Mamata Banerjee

Ghosh did not spare Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, attributing her party's collapse to governance failures over a decade and a half. "Why would Mamata Banerjee be pushed? The public rejected her, and she lost support. Some people are making accusations, but she had 15 years in power and did not deliver results. There were allegations of corruption and violence…" he said.

This comes amid a decisive electoral shift in West Bengal, where the BJP has emerged as the dominant political force, ending years of TMC rule in the state. The BJP leadership has broadly attributed the victory to anti-incumbency sentiment, governance failures, and deep voter dissatisfaction with the outgoing administration.

Final Results: A Historic Mandate

According to the final results of the West Bengal Assembly election, the BJP secured a commanding two-thirds majority, winning 206 seats out of 293 declared constituencies. The TMC finished with 81 seats, while the Indian National Congress (Congress) secured 2 seats. The CPI(M) won 1 seat, the All India Secular Front (AISF) also won 1 seat, and the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) bagged 2 seats.

In terms of vote share, the BJP polled 46%, followed by the TMC at 41%. The CPI(M)-led Left Front received 4%, the Congress 3%, and other parties accounted for 6% of the total vote share.

TMC's Worst District-Level Performance

The TMC suffered significant regional setbacks, failing to win a single seat in ten districts, including Cooch Behar, East Midnapore, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Bankura, and Purulia — marking one of its worst district-level performances in recent electoral history. Notably, these districts span both the north and south of the state, suggesting a broad-based erosion of TMC support rather than a localised swing.

With the BJP now firmly in control of West Bengal, attention turns to the formation of the new government and whether the party can translate its electoral dominance into administrative delivery in a state it has long sought to capture.