New Delhi, April 14 (NationPress) As the 2006 West Bengal Assembly elections approached, it seemed that Mamata Banerjee was poised to take control from the communists in the state, albeit without a substantial majority. However, she fell short. The voter turnout reached an impressive 84.52 percent in 2006, marking the highest in the state’s history, and the Left Front solidified its position by securing 233 out of 294 Assembly seats.

Mamata’s party, the Trinamool Congress, suffered a significant setback, losing half of the 60 seats they had previously gained in 2001. Nevertheless, she refused to back down, leveraging the Left Front government's ambitious industrialization initiatives in Singur and Nandigram as part of her strategy.

At the same time, she began distancing herself from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and rekindled ties with the Congress, the party she had originally left to establish the Trinamool Congress. In 1998, frustrated by Congress's ineffectiveness against the Left, she founded the Trinamool Congress, which became a pivotal force in mobilizing public protests and gradually weakening the Left's stronghold.

In 2011, she emerged as the adversary to the then-communist leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who was seen as a reformist figure in the state. Her protests centered around the use of agricultural land for industrial purposes, striking an emotional chord with a predominantly agrarian populace.

The upcoming 2026 elections raise questions: will they mirror the 2006 referendum or the 2011 results? The answer remains elusive until the mandate is revealed on May 4.

Mamata's focused campaign during 2006-2007 is credited with deterring larger industries from investing in West Bengal, although some small and medium enterprises did emerge. Despite this, the new Chief Minister remained undeterred, actively engaging in business summits and pursuing investment opportunities.

Furthermore, Mamata has transformed into a significant benefactor of sports and cultural events, allocating government funds for various “beneficial schemes” in health, women’s welfare, and minority communities, thereby enhancing her support base.

The first major setback for the Trinamool government came with the results of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, where the BJP gained substantial ground by winning 18 out of the state’s 42 parliamentary seats—an increase of 16. The BJP also saw its vote share nearly double to approximately 41 percent compared to Trinamool’s roughly 44 percent that year.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, the BJP emerged as the main opposition, clinching 77 of the 294 seats, while both the Left and Congress found themselves without representation in the Vidhan Sabha. The BJP garnered around 38 percent of the vote share, while the Trinamool received 48 percent.

In the subsequent 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP managed to secure 12 seats and 39 percent of the vote, while the Trinamool obtained 29 seats and 46 percent of the vote. For the BJP, the division of minority votes in the 2026 Assembly elections will be crucial, alongside issues such as corruption allegations against the ruling party and the overall law and order situation.

Yet, Mamata remains a shrewd political figure—strong yet vulnerable, a leader whom her followers trust and regard as caring. She continues to be an unpredictable enigma to many, having navigated alliances with both the BJP and the Congress throughout her political journey.

Recently, she has opted to run solo in elections without forming alliances, a strategy that has yielded positive outcomes thus far. She has consistently defied expectations, reinventing herself and solidifying her status as the most influential leader in West Bengal.

Her political journey began in the 1970s when she famously leaped onto Jayaprakash Narayan's car during his visit to Calcutta amidst the anti-Emergency movement. This act of defiance epitomized her political style, which has since become her trademark. She has faced challenges head-on, campaigning even with injuries, as evidenced by her recent appearances in a foot cast.