By B D Narayankar 

Bengaluru, June 5

DK Shivakumar has climbed the mountain he spent years trying to scale. The oath has been taken, the celebrations have been held and the Congress has finally settled the question of succession in Karnataka. But if politics teaches anything, it is that winning power is often easier than wielding it.

The new Chief Minister enters office with a formidable reputation — as the Congress's chief troubleshooter, a relentless organiser and a leader who survived enough political storms to earn a place among the party's most influential regional satraps. Yet the challenges before him are unlike any he has faced before.
For one, he inherits power without inheriting complete control.

Though Siddaramaiah has vacated the Chief Minister's chair, his political presence continues to occupy considerable space in the corridors of power. Many members of the new cabinet owe their rise to the veteran leader and remain part of his political ecosystem. The transfer of office may be complete; the transfer of influence is another matter altogether.

The Congress leadership has presented the transition as seamless. Karnataka's political history suggests otherwise. Rivalries in Indian politics rarely end with a handshake and a photograph. They merely become more sophisticated.
Shivakumar's first task, therefore, is not defeating the Opposition but ensuring that the ruling party remains united behind him.

Then comes the caste survey — perhaps the most politically combustible file awaiting the new Chief Minister.
Accepted by the Siddaramaiah government in its final days, the survey has reopened old debates on representation, reservation and political power. Every community sees in it either an opportunity or a threat. Any decision on its implementation is likely to create winners and losers, making it a test not merely of governance but of political nerve.

For the Congress, the issue carries additional weight. A party that champions a caste census nationally can scarcely afford to look hesitant when confronted with the consequences of one in a state where it is in power.
If the caste survey is a political minefield, Bengaluru is an administrative one.

India's technology capital continues to struggle with traffic congestion, strained infrastructure and the familiar complaint that growth has outpaced planning.

Shivakumar, who has long projected himself as a builder and developer, will find that voters are less impressed by promises than by roads that work, drains that do not overflow and commutes that do not consume half a day.
The upcoming elections to the Greater Bengaluru Authority will offer the first tangible measure of public confidence in the new administration.

Yet all these challenges are merely chapters in a larger story.
The Congress did not elevate Shivakumar solely to manage a government. It elevated him to win an election.
Karnataka has not developed a habit of rewarding incumbents. For nearly four decades, voters have alternated between parties with remarkable consistency. Breaking that pattern and securing a second successive term for the Congress in 2028 remains the real prize.

That objective explains much of the political arithmetic behind the transition. Shivakumar is expected to consolidate Vokkaliga support while retaining the broader coalition of backward classes, Dalits and minorities that powered the Congress to victory in 2023. It is a balancing act easier described than accomplished.

There is an old truth in politics: ambition gets a leader to the top, performance keeps him there.
For years, Shivakumar's story was about the struggle to become Chief Minister. Beginning this week, it becomes a story about something more difficult — whether he can govern effectively, manage competing centres of power and persuade Karnataka's voters to give the Congress something they have denied every government for decades: a second chance.

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Bengaluru, June 5

In an early setback for the newly formed Karnataka government, senior Congress leader and Minister R Ramalinga Reddy on Friday resigned from the cabinet just two days after taking oath, alleging that he had been repeatedly “humiliated” after being denied the Bengaluru Development portfolio despite what he described as repeated assurances from Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

Reddy, an eight-time MLA from BTM Layout and one of the Congress party's most prominent leaders in Bengaluru, said he had been assured that he would be given charge of the Bengaluru Development Department once Shivakumar assumed office as Chief Minister. However, he was instead allocated the Irrigation portfolio in the new cabinet.

“I have been humiliated time and again. I cannot take it anymore,” Reddy told reporters after signing his resignation letter.

The resignation comes as the first major sign of discontent within the newly sworn-in cabinet and is likely to fuel political speculation over portfolio allocation and internal dynamics within the ruling Congress.

Explaining his decision, Reddy said Shivakumar had personally visited his residence and assured him that the Bengaluru Development portfolio would be handed over to him after the leadership transition.

According to Reddy, the assurance was reiterated a day before the swearing-in ceremony, only for the allocation to change at the last moment.

“Twice they told me that Bengaluru Development would be given to me. Now I am disappointed. Hence, I am resigning as minister,” he said.

Reddy further declared that he would not accept any ministerial berth in future, even if one of his preferred portfolios was offered.

“Even if they give me the Bengaluru Development portfolio now, I will not accept it. I will work as an MLA and will remain with the Congress,” he said.

The veteran leader clarified that his resignation was confined to the ministerial post and that he would continue as a Congress legislator.

He also said that instead of personally submitting his resignation letter, he would send it to the Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary through a supporter.

A key political figure in Bengaluru, Reddy has represented the BTM Layout constituency eight times and has previously held important portfolios including Transport, Muzrai and Home Affairs in successive Karnataka governments.

While Shivakumar has retained the Finance portfolio, he has relinquished charge of the Bengaluru Development Department. The influential portfolio has been allotted to senior Congress leader Krishna Byre Gowda.

The Bengaluru Development Department is regarded as one of the most prestigious and politically significant portfolios in the Karnataka government, overseeing urban planning, infrastructure development and major civic projects in Bengaluru, the state's capital.

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Mumbai, June 4

The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) faced a major setback as its candidates withdrew their candidatures on Thursday, ensuring that ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance will win the Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) election virtually unopposed.

Thursday was the last day to withdraw applications for the Legislative Council election and candidates withdrew their applications by 3 pm.

Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had announced Bal Mane as its candidate from the Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Legislative Council constituency, but he withdrew from the contest on Thursday, after which the Sena expelled him from the party for anti-party activities.

Bal Mane was originally a BJP leader. However, during the 2024 assembly elections, he left the BJP and publicly joined the Thackeray group. He contested the assembly elections from Ratnagiri against Cabinet Minister Uday Samant from the Maha Vikas Aghadi, but he had to face defeat in that election. After that, he was once again brought into the election fray through the Legislative Council. However, his withdrawal before the voting has completely changed the political equations in Konkan

Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena's Devyani Dongaonkar was nominated from the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna Legislative Council constituency, but she suddenly withdrew her candidature, after which the party expelled Devyani Dongaonkar and her husband Krishna Dongaonkar.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena candidate Anil Kadam who was supposed to be the candidate from the Nashik Legislative Council constituency withdrew from the contest and did not file his application. Congress candidate Sahebrao Kamble, who was nominated by the Congress to contest from the Yavatmal Legialative Council, withdrew from the election.

Reacting to these developments Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and chief Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut alleged here on Thursday that, “The ruling party (BJP) has spent a whopping Rs 150 crore to get our candidates to withdraw their applications. One of our candidates was given Rs 25 crore to withdraw”.
“From the information I have so far, the ruling party is adamant to ensure that elections are held unopposed and many unscrupulous methods have been adopted to achieve this. A large number of attempts were made to buy off opposition candidates and it succeeded in some places,” Sanjay Raut said.

“Yesterday (Wednesday), such transactions took place at Hotel Sofitel in Mumbai, located in the Bandra Kurla Complex. After that, our candidate in Konkan (Bal Mane) withdrew. Our candidate withdrew in Sambhajinagar. The person who fixed the deal informed us. The process of purchasing candidates is going on in Maharashtra. I think this is a way of destroying the state and the country. This is extremely dangerous for democracy,” Sanjay Raut said.
“The prices of horses were fixed only to withdraw their candidatures. I am not shocked at all. I expected this. That is why I kept saying from the beginning that this election is not ours. This election is not for party workers. This election is for those who can spend cash, do horse trading, as well as buy candidates and votes. This is not democracy. This was my honest opinion and I tried to present my opinion many times in my party. I was afraid that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) would get discredited due to this, especially my party,” Sanjay Raut said.
Reacting to the withdrawal of MVA candidates from the poll fray, Maharashtra State Congress Committee President Harshwardhan Sapkal said, “Despite the BJP's power everywhere, it is still trampling upon democratic values in its desire for more power. Offers of crores of rupees have been made to opposition candidates in order to ensure that Legislative Council elections are won unopposed. The BJP has used all means to get candidates to withdraw nominations, putting aside all morality. The BJP does not want democracy. It wants a 'nomination system' instead of elections”.

“Voters of Legislative Council elections are the elected representatives in the local self-government bodies and it is a limited electorate. But in this election too, the ruling alliance has openly played the game of throwing money and enjoying the spectacle. There has been a huge distribution of money by the ruling party. The BJP and the Election Commission are in an unholy alliance. This picture is not good for democracy,” Sapkal said.

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By Prof. Ujjwal Chowdhury

The Moment Before the Verdict

As of 3 May 2026, Bengal stands in that charged interval between voting and verdict. The queues have ended, the slogans have faded, the booth agents have filed their last reports, and counting is scheduled for 4 May. Yet the political story already has a shape. It is not a story of a government without anger against it. It is not a story of an opposition without energy. It is not even a story of a state fully satisfied with its present condition. It is a story of comparative trust: between a ruling party that has entered the household through welfare, organisation and identity, and a challenger that has expanded dramatically but still has not become a sufficiently trusted governing alternative in Bengal.

The Trinamool Congress is likely to win this election not because every Bengali voter is content, and not because the BJP has failed to create anti-incumbency. TMC is likely to win because, in the lived grammar of Bengal politics, Mamata Banerjee still carries a more credible emotional contract with the voter than the BJP does. The uploaded documents converge on the same thesis: TMC's social coalition, women-centred welfare, minority consolidation, booth-level embeddedness, Bengali identity narrative and Mamata's singular leadership still outweigh the BJP's campaign of corruption, law and order, polarisation and central power. But that same thesis carries a warning: if TMC wins a fourth term, it cannot continue with the older model of welfare plus local control. The next mandate must become a governance reset.

TMC is likely to win not because Bengal is free of anger, but because its welfare memory, social coalition, Bengali identity and Mamata Banerjee's personal connect still outweigh the BJP's opposition narrative.

The Welfare State as Political Memory

The first chapter of the story begins not in television studios but in kitchens, schoolbags, ration queues, hospital counters and bank passbooks. TMC's greatest strength is that welfare has become personal. Lakshmir Bhandar is not merely a scheme name printed in government advertisements. For more than two crore women, it is a recurring monthly recognition by the state. Kanyashree is not merely a scholarship scheme. It is a memory of the state telling a girl that her schooling matters. Swasthya Sathi is not merely a card. For families that have used it in moments of medical panic, it is evidence that the government can intervene when money is unavailable. Rupashree, Sabuj Sathi, Student Credit Card, Utkarsh Bangla, Duare Sarkar and related initiatives have together built a welfare ecosystem that reaches across life stages: school, college, health, marriage support, skilling, local certificates, grievance redressal and household cash.

The uploaded material places the scale of this welfare system at the centre of the election. Lakshmir Bhandar is reported to cover around 2.21 crore women, with large annual allocations and cumulative expenditure running into tens of thousands of crores. Kanyashree has crossed the one crore or near-one-crore beneficiary mark in different official and political references. Swasthya Sathi is described as covering crores of families or roughly eight to nine crore people, with over one crore hospitalisation or service beneficiaries. Sabuj Sathi has reached more than a crore students through bicycles. Duare Sarkar has delivered more than ten crore public services through lakhs of camps. These numbers matter because they are not abstract campaign claims to a poor household. They are proof that something has arrived.

This is why the BJP's promise of a larger monthly payment to women, including the pitch of Rs. 3,000 per month, faces a credibility problem. In election theory, future promise can defeat past delivery only if the challenger is trusted more than the incumbent. In Bengal, TMC can say, "We are already paying." BJP must say, "We will pay if elected." For an urban analyst, the difference may appear administrative. For a lower-income woman, it is existential. A guaranteed smaller flow can be more valuable than a larger uncertain one. In the political imagination of Bengal, TMC's welfare architecture has become a running tap; the BJP is offering a new pipeline whose water is yet to be tested.

Social Arithmetic: Minorities, Women and the Fear Factor

The second chapter is social arithmetic, but arithmetic in Bengal is never only arithmetic. Muslims constitute about 27 percent of West Bengal's population according to Census 2011, and in many districts and constituencies they are decisive. It would be analytically incorrect to claim that any community votes 100 percent in one direction. But the documents correctly emphasise that strong minority consolidation behind TMC remains one of the party's greatest advantages. Post-poll and political analyses after the 2024 Lok Sabha election suggested a very large Muslim preference for TMC. In 2026, that consolidation may sharpen further because of BJP's rhetoric around infiltration, Bangladeshis, Rohingyas, CAA, UCC and voter verification.

Here, BJP faces a paradox of its own making. The harder it speaks to one section of Hindu voters through suspicion of minorities, the more it consolidates Muslim voters behind TMC. The decision not to field Muslim candidates in the 2026 Assembly election, as noted in the uploaded documents, becomes symbolically meaningful in a state where minority representation is not merely arithmetic but also dignity. TMC's fielding of a significant number of Muslim candidates, and Congress fielding even more in some accounts, allows Mamata Banerjee to claim that she represents Bengal's social plurality while BJP represents a politics of exclusion.

Smaller minority-oriented parties such as AIMIM or ISF may try to fragment this vote, but the current climate makes TMC's counter-narrative powerful: do not split the vote when the larger threat is disenfranchisement and centralised majoritarianism. The uploaded drafts also treat controversies around splinter Muslim initiatives with caution, correctly distinguishing between allegation and proof. The political point, however, stands: where minority voters fear that vote division may help BJP, consolidation becomes a survival instinct rather than a party preference.

The third chapter is the Special Intensive Revision of the voter list, or SIR, which has become more than an administrative exercise. It has become an emotional wound. The uploaded documents present slightly different numerical formulations but converge on the political essence: the revision created deep anxiety among the poor, minorities, migrants, Dalits, Matuas, elderly voters and families with fragile documentation. Some accounts state that the electorate before draft publication was over 7.66 crore and the final roll came down to about 6.44 crore, with more than 60 lakh doubtful or pending cases under adjudication. The exact official mechanics may be contested, but the lived experience is clear: many families felt that the right to vote had become uncertain.

SIR: Administrative Revision as Democratic Anxiety

That uncertainty does not affect only the person whose name is missing. If one member of a family is deleted, doubtful or summoned into an adjudication process, the entire household feels insulted and threatened. If a grandfather's name remains but the grandson's disappears, the family does not interpret it as technical cleansing. It interprets it as democratic insecurity. If documents accepted earlier are suddenly treated as insufficient, the voter does not see software accuracy; the voter sees suspicion. TMC has converted this into a powerful argument: Bengal's poor, Bengal's minorities, Bengal's migrants and Bengal's ordinary people are being harassed in the name of cleansing voter rolls.

The BJP expected that voter-roll revision and citizenship politics would help it by sharpening the infiltrator narrative. But the documents argue that the fallout has not been so neat. Reports cited in the drafts suggest that a large share of excluded or affected people were Hindus, including lower-income Hindu households, Dalits and Matuas, even while specific constituencies also showed disproportionate minority impact. This complicates BJP's strategy. Instead of producing a clean Hindu-versus-Muslim polarisation, SIR may have produced a shared grievance across communities. For TMC, that is politically valuable because Mamata Banerjee can present herself as the defender of the voter, not only the defender of minorities.

The fourth chapter is Mamata herself. The TMC has scandals, unpopular local leaders, factional arrogance and accusations of syndicate culture. Yet many voters still distinguish between "Didi" and the local "dada." This distinction may appear illogical to critics, but it is politically real. Mamata Banerjee remains Bengal's most emotionally legible leader. Her cotton saree, rubber slippers, street protests, rough humour, impatience, anger, poetry, songs, injuries, hunger-strike memory and permanent posture of combat give her something that no BJP leader in Bengal has matched: a sense of being recognisably local, unmediated and personally invested.

Mamata Banerjee: The Singular Face of the Contest

The SIR controversy has allowed her to return to her strongest political role: protector of Bengal against Delhi. Every confrontation with the Election Commission, every court battle, every protest march, every slogan about Bengali dignity helps her become again what she was before 2011: a fighter against a larger power. The irony is that after fifteen years in government, she can still campaign as if she is fighting from the street. That is a rare political skill. Many incumbents become administrators; Mamata has remained agitator-in-chief.

Her gender is not incidental. TMC's welfare architecture has been deliberately feminised. Kanyashree speaks to girls, Lakshmir Bhandar to women, Rupashree to poorer families with daughters, self-help groups to rural economic networks, and panchayat representation to local female visibility. Mamata is not merely a woman chief minister; she is the symbolic centre of a women-facing political economy. BJP can and does attack TMC over women's safety, especially after Sandeshkhali and RG Kar. These attacks have force. But BJP has not built a comparable Bengal-specific women's economic architecture. That difference matters at the polling booth.

The fifth chapter is organisation. Bengal elections are not won only by speeches from helicopters. They are won through booths, para networks, clubs, panchayats, self-help groups, local grievance handlers, ration-card problem solvers, school contacts, hospital mediators, beneficiary lists and counting-room vigilance. The uploaded documents repeatedly emphasise that TMC's booth machine remains its hardest electoral weapon. The CPI(M) once had such embedded structure; today it does not. BJP has expanded since 2019, but expansion is not the same as embeddedness.

The Booth Machine and the Local Memory of Power

A TMC worker often knows who received Lakshmir Bhandar, whose health card was used, whose son migrated, whose daughter needs a scholarship, whose land dispute is pending, whose name may have been cut from the voter list, whose family is angry, and who must be persuaded before polling day. This knowledge is not always benign. It can become pressure, intimidation, cut money and local capture. But electorally, it is an information advantage. BJP may have central leaders, digital campaigns, money, Hindutva messaging and national media amplification. TMC has local memory.

This is why the party's pre-counting focus on agents, booth-level vigilance and constituency-level instructions matters. Elections in Bengal are not merely voting-day events; they are organisational wars from voter list to counting table. TMC understands that politics is not only mood but machinery. BJP has a machine too, but in many areas, especially South Bengal and rural belts where TMC controls much of the panchayat structure, the challenger still lacks the intimate everyday presence that turns anger into votes.

The sixth chapter is Bengali identity. BJP's "double engine" pitch has run into TMC's "Bengal versus outsider control" pitch. The outsider argument is sometimes dismissed as regional chauvinism, but in Bengal it taps into a long cultural memory: language, literature, food, festivals, refugee histories, syncretic traditions, rural folk cultures, urban bhadralok pride and suspicion of northern political templates. The controversies cited in the uploaded documents - Bengali being described in a Delhi Police communication as a "Bangladeshi language," Bengali-speaking migrant workers being treated as Bangladeshis in some BJP-ruled contexts, and food-policing anxieties around fish and meat - have given TMC symbolic fuel.

Bengali Identity Against the Outsider Frame

Bengal's cultural politics is complex because the same voter may worship Durga, eat fish, celebrate Eid with neighbours, visit a Jagannath temple, admire Netaji, recite Tagore, watch football and distrust communal policing. TMC has understood this better than BJP. Its support for Durga Puja committees, the Digha Jagannath temple project, and Hindu cultural events is not a shift to Hindutva; it is an attempt to prevent BJP from monopolising Hindu identity. The message is: Bengal can be deeply Hindu in cultural practice without becoming majoritarian in political temperament.

This soft religious patronage blunts the BJP's attempt to label TMC anti-Hindu. It tells Hindu voters that they do not need BJP to protect Durga Puja, temple devotion or Bengali Hindu culture. At the same time, TMC maintains its minority support by presenting Bengal's Hindu practice as plural, festive and local rather than exclusionary. This is a delicate balance, but so far it has worked well enough to limit BJP's statewide polarisation dividend.

The seventh chapter is the BJP's central weakness: it has not answered the question, "Who will run Bengal?" Narendra Modi remains BJP's biggest campaigner and most recognisable national brand. But a state election finally asks a state question. Modi will not sit in Nabanna. Amit Shah will not run district administration. BJP has strong Bengal leaders - Suvendu Adhikari, Dilip Ghosh, Sukanta Majumdar, Samik Bhattacharya and others - but the party has not projected a single undisputed chief ministerial face with the emotional clarity Mamata possesses.

Why BJP Falls Short

This leadership vacuum matters because anti-incumbency needs a destination. A voter angry with TMC must be able to imagine a government after TMC. The BJP has often offered anger but not enough local reassurance. Its leadership has appeared fragmented: Suvendu as combative opposition face, Dilip as original grassroots BJP voice, Sukanta or Samik as organisational heads, and the central leadership as the real authority. This creates reach but not emotional certainty. TMC has one answer: Mamata. BJP has a committee.

The Chandra Kumar Bose factor, as described in the uploaded documents, is symbolic but significant. When Netaji's grandnephew and a former BJP figure joins TMC while saying BJP does not understand Bengal's soul, it reinforces the cultural legitimacy problem. One leader's movement does not decide elections, but symbols matter in Bengal. Netaji, Tagore, Vivekananda, Nazrul and the wider Bengal renaissance are not ornamental references; they are part of political identity. If BJP appears unable to inhabit that symbolic world naturally, TMC's outsider narrative gains strength.

The eighth chapter is why BJP's polarisation strategy has a ceiling. Hindu consolidation has helped BJP in many states and in parts of Bengal. It has delivered support in North Bengal, border belts, urban pockets and Matua-influenced areas. But Bengal is not a blank slate. It has religious anxieties, but also a strong linguistic and cultural self-conception. It has refugee memories, but also fear of documentation harassment. It has Hindu pride, but also discomfort with being told that Bengali food, language and social practice are suspect. A hard communal pitch may energise some voters but alienate others.

The documents point out that BJP's rhetoric around infiltrators, Rohingyas and Bangladeshis may deepen minority consolidation and unsettle Bengali cultural moderates. It can also worry Matuas and other borderland communities if citizenship promises remain entangled in paperwork. The CAA pathway, once a strong BJP promise, becomes a double-edged sword when beneficiaries do not experience swift, dignified, guaranteed citizenship. If a voter expected recognition but instead feels scrutiny, the promise turns into anxiety.

North Bengal remains important for BJP, and TMC cannot take it lightly. The hills, tea gardens, tribal belts, Rajbanshi areas and border districts are not uniformly pro-TMC. But the documents suggest that BJP's earlier momentum there has faced strains: unresolved questions about a permanent political solution in Darjeeling, delayed Gorkha sub-tribe recognition, labour anxiety in tea gardens and jute sectors, and frustration in refugee and Matua belts. BJP may still win several seats in these zones, but pockets of strength are not the same as a statewide majority.

The Third Force and the Limits of Anti-Incumbency

The ninth chapter is the Left-Congress factor. In 2021, Bengal became almost bipolar: TMC versus BJP. Many anti-TMC voters shifted to BJP because it appeared the only party capable of defeating Mamata. In 2026, the opposition space is more fragmented. CPI(M) is trying to recover youth, jobs and constitutional politics. Congress has campaigned in minority and border districts such as Malda and Murshidabad. Even if the Left and Congress do not win many seats, their presence matters in close contests. A three to five percent anti-TMC vote split can defeat BJP's hopes in several constituencies.

This helps TMC structurally. Some voters who dislike TMC but fear BJP may return to the Left or Congress. Some educated urban voters angry over corruption, recruitment scams or RG Kar may not want to vote BJP. Some minorities may prefer Congress locally but still consolidate behind TMC where BJP is the main challenger. The result is that BJP's anti-incumbency pool is not fully consolidated. TMC benefits when opposition anger is morally loud but electorally divided.

The tenth chapter is development data and the argument against collapse. BJP has tried to present Bengal as lawless, jobless and economically broken. TMC's counter is that Bengal is not a Gujarat-style industrial state, but it is not an economic desert. The uploaded documents refer to growth in state domestic product since 2011, per capita GSDP estimates around Rs. 1.71 lakh for 2023-24, unemployment rates lower than national figures in cited PLFS/NITI-linked accounts, strong agricultural cropping intensity around 184 percent, and tourism strength, including West Bengal's high rank in foreign tourist visits in 2024 and the global visibility of Durga Puja after UNESCO recognition.

Development, Data and the Counter-Narrative to Collapse

The Kolkata safety data cited in the documents also complicates the BJP's narrative. NCRB 2023 reportedly placed Kolkata among the safest major Indian cities for cognisable offences and relatively lower among metros for crimes against women. This does not erase RG Kar, Sandeshkhali, political violence or local intimidation. It does, however, allow TMC to respond to blanket claims of total lawlessness. The more accurate description is mixed: Bengal has serious governance failures, but it also has functioning welfare, agriculture, tourism, cultural economy, MSMEs, services, migration-linked remittances and urban professional sectors.

TMC also uses the central-deprivation argument. Disputes over MGNREGS and other central funds have been converted into a Bengal-rights issue. BJP says funds were withheld because of corruption and misuse; TMC says Delhi is denying Bengal its due. In a federal state with strong linguistic identity, this grievance resonates. It allows TMC to present welfare stress not only as a state-capacity problem but as central punishment. Whether every claim is accepted or not, the emotional frame is effective: Delhi is unfair, Didi is fighting.

And yet, the eleventh chapter is the most important one: TMC's vulnerabilities are real. The school jobs scam has damaged public trust deeply. It struck at the heart of educated Bengal's moral economy: the belief that study, merit and public recruitment can still produce dignity. When thousands of appointments are cancelled, when courts intervene, when tainted lists are discussed, and when genuine candidates feel cheated, the wound goes beyond one department. It tells young people that the system is rigged. If TMC wins, transparent recruitment must be its first governance reset.

The Real Anger Against TMC

The second vulnerability is syndicate raj. TMC's local embeddedness wins elections, but it can also become coercive control over construction, contracts, markets, clubs, small businesses, permissions and neighbourhood life. Cut money, intimidation, party-linked extortion and local arrogance may not operate everywhere, but where they do, they create intense resentment. This is the most dangerous contradiction in the TMC model: the same cadre who helps a beneficiary access welfare can also dominate the same family through fear. A fourth-term government cannot survive long-term if it protects such networks.

The third vulnerability is women's dignity. Sandeshkhali and RG Kar have created moral anger that no serious analysis can minimise. BJP may politicise these issues, but politicisation does not make the underlying pain false. For a party led by India's most prominent woman chief minister, and for a party whose electoral base rests heavily on women, this is an existential warning. TMC cannot celebrate Lakshmir Bhandar and tolerate the humiliation, insecurity or silencing of women by local strongmen, hospital systems, police indifference or party networks.

The fourth vulnerability is youth employment. Official unemployment rates may not be catastrophic in the cited data, but the deeper issue is quality employment. Too many young Bengalis depend on migration, low-paid service work, coaching-centre uncertainty, political brokerage, informal retail, delivery work, tuition, small gigs or repeated exam preparation. Welfare protects the poor, but jobs give dignity to the young. If TMC's next mandate does not become a jobs mandate, BJP or another opposition will eventually find a stronger opening.

The fifth vulnerability is education. Declining enrolment, school rationalisation debates, teacher vacancies, one-teacher schools, learning deficits and recruitment scandals together create a dangerous crisis. Bengal's political culture has always placed high value on education. If public education loses credibility, TMC loses a part of Bengal's soul. The next government must fill vacancies, create a credible recruitment calendar, protect viable rural schools, merge only where educationally justified, provide transport, digitise attendance, improve foundational learning and rebuild trust with teachers and parents.

This is why TMC's likely victory must become a governance reset. The 2011 model was built around ending Left rule, welfare expansion, street-fighter charisma, local party control and Bengali pride. The 2026 model must be different. It must be built around clean delivery, accountable administration, investment, productive welfare, school revival, transparent recruitment, women's safety, digital governance, MSME growth, skilling and urban renewal. The party cannot assume that because welfare has won this election, welfare alone will win the next one.

The Governance Reset Bengal Now Needs

The first reset should be from welfare to productive welfare. Lakshmir Bhandar, Kanyashree, Rupashree, Swasthya Sathi and Duare Sarkar must continue, but they must be connected to livelihoods. Every woman beneficiary who wants income should have access to SHG strengthening, Udyam registration, bank credit, digital payment training, e-commerce onboarding, local procurement opportunities and skill certification. Bengal should launch a Micro and Nano Enterprise Mission that links one crore women and youth to livelihood pathways, creates lakhs of nano enterprises in the first two years, and builds sector clusters in food processing, fishery, textiles, crafts, repair services, beauty and wellness, rural tourism, digital work, green products and local logistics.

The second reset should be recruitment credibility. Bengal needs an independent, technology-backed, court-proof recruitment architecture for teachers, police, health workers, clerks, engineers and local government staff. Every exam should have secure digital audit trails, public answer keys, time-bound grievance windows, third-party panel audits, annual vacancy calendars and strict punishment for political interference. This is not merely administrative reform. It is the moral repair of the state.

The third reset should be an anti-syndicate governance design. Speeches will not end syndicates; systems will. The government should introduce transparent e-tendering for smaller thresholds, online construction permissions, ward-level anti-extortion helplines, public dashboards of local contracts, strict policing of party-linked coercion, district ombudsmen for small business harassment and time-bound service delivery guarantees. The leadership must make visible examples of its own cadres. Without that, anti-incumbency will deepen beneath the surface.

The fourth reset should be a Women's Dignity and Safety Compact. Every police station should have functional women's help desks, trained personnel and accountability for refusal to register complaints. Sexual violence and political intimidation cases should be fast-tracked. There should be safe transport and lighting audits in towns, campuses, hospitals, haats and rural roads. Party functionaries facing credible prima facie allegations of violence against women should be suspended or expelled pending investigation. Survivor support must include compensation, counselling, relocation assistance where necessary and witness protection. This is not a public relations issue; it is the foundation of TMC's moral legitimacy.

The fifth reset should be an employment and investment compact suited to Bengal's own strengths. Bengal need not copy Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka or Telangana, but it must attract capital. Its route should be distributed productivity: IT and fintech in Kolkata, New Town, Siliguri, Durgapur-Asansol and Kharagpur; biotech and health-tech around Kolkata and Kalyani; agro-processing for rice, fish, fruit, vegetables, dairy and flowers; jute modernisation and technical textiles; engineering revival in Howrah and Durgapur-Asansol; logistics linked to ports and freight corridors; and tourism circuits around Durga Puja, Sundarbans, Darjeeling, Dooars, Murshidabad, Bishnupur and coastal Bengal. Bengal's advantage is culture plus people plus services plus agriculture plus small enterprise. The task is to make that high-productivity.

The sixth reset should be fiscal and administrative honesty. Welfare promises must be funded through better revenue collection, GST analytics, leak detection, property registration reform, mining and excise transparency, procurement efficiency, central dues litigation where justified, and disciplined borrowing. A state cannot build dignity only through schemes if it does not build fiscal capacity. Welfare without productivity becomes stress. Productivity without welfare becomes exclusion. Bengal needs both.

The seventh reset should be civic governance. Kolkata and Bengal's towns need cleaner drainage, waste management, safer transport, footpath discipline, hawker policy, flood resilience, heritage renewal, better public toilets, affordable rental housing and digital municipal services. Rural Bengal needs roads, irrigation, drinking water, school transport, health sub-centres, market access and climate resilience, especially in vulnerable regions such as the Sundarbans. The next phase of governance must be visible not only in bank accounts but also in streets, schools, hospitals and markets.

The final chapter, therefore, is not simply "TMC will win." It is "TMC will win, but victory will not be enough." BJP is likely to fall short because it has not overcome Mamata's leadership advantage, TMC's welfare memory, minority consolidation, women's support, booth organisation, Bengali identity politics, SIR-induced anxiety, opposition vote fragmentation and its own absence of a trusted local chief ministerial face. But TMC's win will be meaningful only if it treats the mandate as a warning wrapped in approval.

Conclusion: Victory as Responsibility

Bengal is not voting for perfection. It is choosing between two imperfect futures. One is a welfare-delivery state with corruption, local coercion and fatigue, but also familiarity, cultural rootedness and household-level benefits. The other is a powerful national party with central resources and ideological force, but still an under-specified Bengal model, unresolved leadership, cultural legitimacy problems and polarisation ceilings. In that comparison, Mamata Banerjee and TMC remain ahead.

Yet the future will not be kind to complacency. The voter who accepts Lakshmir Bhandar today may demand jobs for her son tomorrow. The girl who benefited from Kanyashree may demand a fair teacher recruitment exam. The family that used Swasthya Sathi may demand a safer hospital. The rural voter who trusts Didi against Delhi may demand protection against the local party strongman. The urban voter who rejects BJP's cultural aggression may still demand clean municipal governance. The minority voter who consolidates out of fear may eventually demand development beyond protection.

That is the true Bengal story of 2026. TMC's advantage is real because it is layered: welfare, women, minorities, Mamata, organisation, identity and opposition weakness. BJP's deficit is real because it is structural: no single Bengal face, uncertain welfare credibility, over-reliance on polarisation, outsider optics, fragmented local leadership and incomplete social trust. But TMC's next challenge is larger than defeating BJP. It must defeat the weaknesses within its own model.

If Mamata Banerjee wins again, she will not merely have retained power. She will have received one of the last great opportunities to transform Bengal's welfare state into a clean, productive, safe, employment-generating and culturally confident development state. The mandate will say that Bengal still trusts Didi more than Delhi. The responsibility will be to prove that Didi's Bengal can now trust institutions more than intermediaries, jobs more than patronage, justice more than party control, and governance more than election machinery. That is the reset Bengal will need after the victory.        

The author is a known academic, Pro Vice Chancellor of a Bengal based university, and Vice President of Global Media Education Council.

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“YouthAid Entrepreneurs Federation of India (YEFI), being launched in Pune this November 22, becomes a bridge connecting grassroots entrepreneurs with government schemes, banks, CSR partners, platforms and investors. It promotes standardisation, quality, branding and ethics in business, helping micro-businesses scale up sustainably. And it seeds the next generation of entrepreneurs who will shape India’s future. In today’s changing India, such a federation is not optional, it is necessary for last-mile inclusion, dignity and economic justice,” said Mathew Mattam, the Chairman of the newly launched grassroots business outfit, YEFI, in Pune. 

The significance of the date is critical as it comes in the middle of a worldwide entrepreneurial movement. Global Entrepreneurship Week is an annual campaign to celebrate and empower entrepreneurs in every country and community around the world with a global focus. GEW is being celebrated in the US, UK and in over 200 countries, including India, from 17th to 23rd November 2025 and the theme for this year is “Together We Build”. Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is a global celebration of innovators, entrepreneurs, and startups, aimed at fostering growth and connection within local and international entrepreneurial ecosystems. And in this week, a history has been created in India with the birth of YEFI. 

Speaking at the inauguration, from UK, the GEN UK Vice President and a leading figure in global entrepreneurship policy-making, Matt Smith, emphasized upon the critical link between broad ecosystem support and national economic strength. He said, “Ecosystem building is not just a buzzword, it is the vital infrastructure that sustains an economy and empowers a country’s future. For GEW 2025 to achieve its full potential, we must dramatically deepen our reach into the grassroots, the often-overlooked micro-entrepreneurs who form the bedrock of local economies. We extent our heartfelt congratulations to the YouthAid Foundation (YAF) for launching YEFI, which is perfectly positioned to drive this crucial, localized momentum.”

Following this, Priya Kothari, the international director of YAF and Executive Director of WUST Foundation, Virginia, noted that the vision of YEFI is clear: to ensure the Indian grassroots entrepreneurship movement reach every state in India and scale effectively on the global stage. We believe that by providing focused mentorship, resources, the essential digital and financial literacy, we can unlock the potential of micro entrepreneurs, transforming local livelihoods and making them powerful contributors to the global economy.”

YEFI has kept strict conditions for membership. Any grassroot enterprise creator with a minimum of two years in business, with audited accounts and ITR showing an annual turnover of Rs.5 lacs, can only apply. While some 2400 such businesses are in the process of auditing just now, YEFI’s inaugural membership was accorded to six enterprises with a total audited annual turnover of 22 crores, employing 105 persons in total, and all businesses being sustainable ones. The six initial entrepreneurs are Sarthak Enterprises, AgroZee Organics Pvt Ltd, YouthAid Global Services Pvt Ltd, VK Control Systems Pvt Ltd, Shital Enterprises, and Agrotech Famer Produce Company.

YEFI board has Mathew Mattam as Chairman, four entrepreneur as board members, a social activist of repute Jyotsna Bahirat as a member, and noted academic Prof Ujjwal Anu Chowdhury also as a member. 

Entrepreneur director Vicky Kalbande expressed joy to be on the founding board of YEFI and noted that making social unicorn by 2030 would be the main goal, and he will take his business from Amravati to the global level. Entrepreneur Bapu Narute committed to help host the first anniversary of YEFI at Dubai on November 22, 2026. 

On this occasion, Daily Democracy Now! published a special edition with one page coverage of what and why of YEFI, and publisher Rajesh Warlekar expressed immense possibilities of the platform of business owners on ground. Dr Tausif Malik, the US-based media and entrepreneurship evangelist, welcomed the initiative and the power of the concept of social unicorn driving it. 

Throwing some light on this concept, YEFI Board Member, Prof Ujjwal Anu Chowdhury, noted that the absence of any chamber of commerce dedicated to the micro-entrepreneurs and the need to bring them together to harness their immense potential is behind the launch of YEFI. It starts with Rs.22 crores turnover of 6 micro business entrepreneurs with 105 employees, 73% of whom are women, in 2025. By February, 2026, during the Hyderabad YES Summit, hosted with support from Incubation Cell of Telengana government, some 500 members of YEFI shall attend with a gross turnover crossing Rs.50 crores by all means. The YEFI organized YES Summit of 2027 shall be in Delhi with more than 1000 members fulfilling the conditions and some Rs.100 crores plus annual audited turnover. It is expected that by the time UN SDGs will come to an end in 2030, by the fifth YEFI anniversary, it will cross 10,000 members having Rs.1000 crores turnover, employing more than a lakh of employees, and with a valuation of Rs.10,000 crores, that is USD 1 billion, thus becoming India’s first ever Social Unicorn. 

This sort of a fast growth will create a platform which can support the members within the organization, mentorship of senior YEFI members as Uday Gurus for the newer entrants can be ensured, YEFI members’ e-commerce platform can be launched, one Export-Import division to be launched, YEFI delegations going across Global South nations to build bridges with the micro and small entrepreneurs worldwide, and the platform can negotiate well with government bodies, banks, universities to bring in benefits for the members. The blueprint is for a revolutionary rise of the grassroot businesses contributing to the national wealth in a big way. 

The YEFI launch thus is poised to address the acute invisibility of grassroots businesses largely by women in the villages, small towns and urban slums in mainstream media and business discourses. 

Democratising grassroots entrepreneurship means changing that script – making it normal and possible for a young woman in a basti, a farmer’s son, or a first-generation diploma holder in a small town to build and own an enterprise with dignity and support. That is exactly the space in which YEFI – YouthAid Entrepreneurs’ Federation of India – is positioning itself for the years ahead. 

Report by Jyotsna Bahirat, YEFI Board Member, November 22, 2025, Pune

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Bengaluru, Agency

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Monday accused the BJP and the Election Commission of turning a blind eye to alleged “vote-chori” in the state. 

Addressing the issue, Shivakumar said, “BJP doesn't want to accept its fault. The same goes for the Election Commission. We are trying to convince the people of this country that vote chori has happened.”

In a bid to raise public awareness, Shivakumar met Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in Delhi and briefed him on the ongoing signature campaign undertaken by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). 

The campaign, aimed at highlighting electoral malpractices in the state, has reportedly collected over 1.12 crore signatures from across Karnataka. These signatures will be submitted to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in the coming days.

Shivakumar elaborated on the campaign, saying, “A call was given to have a signature campaign to educate the people of this country. I am very proud that the party cadres, the workers, the block presidents, the booth presidents, and all the legislators joined together in their constituencies. We have collected more than 1 crore signatures, and we are presenting all of them to the AICC.”

He also expressed appreciation for judicial intervention in the matter, referring to the announcement of the SIR (Special Investigation Report) in Karnataka. 

“Looking at this, the SIR has been announced. I would like to thank the court for giving a direction on this issue,” he said.

The campaign, which involved extensive outreach across Karnataka, is seen by Congress as a significant step to mobilize public opinion against alleged irregularities in the electoral process. Party leaders emphasised that the initiative not only aims to gather evidence of “vote-chori” but also to reinforce the democratic rights of voters.
The BJP, however, has dismissed such allegations, maintaining that the electoral process in Karnataka was conducted fairly and transparently. The ongoing political tussle highlights the deepening scrutiny of electoral mechanisms in the state as parties gear up for upcoming elections.

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Chennai

Dashing the hopes of the AIADMK and the BJP, which were desperate for an alliance with the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), the fledgling party has declared its top leader, actor Vijay as the Chief Ministerial face.
The party reiterated that it would head a separate alliance to take on the ruling DMK in the 2026 assembly election in Tamil Nadu. 

“There are only two contenders in 2026 and the contest will be fierce but victory is ours. Victory is certain, we will triumph and create history by restoring people’s faith,” the film star declared, while addressing the party’s Special General Council meet at the heritage coastal town Mamallapuram, about 55 km from Chennai. 

Significantly, this is Vijay’s first public appearance after the September 27 Karur killer stampede at the actor’s rally which claimed 41 lives, and turned the party into silent mode since then. 

The announcement that Vijay is the Chief Ministerial candidate of the party, a reiteration of the TVK’s earlier stand, was received with loud cheers and applause. 

The meeting, which commenced with a two-minute silence for the victims of the stampede, passed 12 resolutions, including one which authorised Vijay to take any decision regarding alliance for the forthcoming assembly poll. 
Reaffirming the earlier position that the "corrupt" DMK is the TVK’s political enemy and the "fascist" BJP, the ideological foe, another resolution reiterated that the party will fight both together. 

The film star, addressing the meeting, launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin for his remarks made in the assembly about the stampede, terming them as a "bundle of lies" intended to tarnish the image of the party through "malicious canards" even while posturing as though he is above board and not politicising the tragedy. 

“His speech was filled with political hostility and animosity. This is nothing new for the DMK from 1969 onward. To be specific, 1972 onwards, when the family (Karunanidhi family) took over, there was none to question them. Now, the Supreme Court has come down heavily on the DMK government, posing uncomfortable questions which even their lawyers were left dumbfounded,” he said. 

Explaining as to why the party had gone into silent mode, the actor said, “We were grief-stricken since our dear ones have died. Using that as an opportunity, malicious propaganda was unleashed. Now, all these will be wiped out since justice and truth is on our side. 

"After the tragedy, the government hurriedly constituted a one-man judicial commission and top officers briefed the media, leaving the people and the Supreme Court to raise doubts," he said. 

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Valmikinagar/Chanpatia, Agency

 Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of establishing an authoritarian regime in the country, comparing the current situation in India to the British colonial era.

Addressing rallies in West Champaran district in support of Grand Alliance candidates, she alleged that democracy in India is being systematically weakened and people’s voices are being suppressed.

Priyanka said, “The land of Champaran symbolises India’s fight for freedom. But today, the nation is once again under a rule similar to British times, only the rulers have changed. It is no longer British rule; it is Modi’s empire.”
She accused the BJP-led government of creating a system that favours the rich and powerful while burdening the poor. Inflation has broken the backbone of the poor, farmers are crushed under debt, their loans never waived, while industrialists like Ambani and Adani get thousands of crores written off, she alleged.

Priyanka Gandhi alleged that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is conspiring to “steal votes” in Bihar to cling to power. Nearly 65 lakh names have been deleted from the voters’ list, which is a grave injustice to democracy, she said, calling on voters to stay vigilant.

She claimed that Bihar’s farmers are struggling with rising taxes and production costs, while the youth face mass unemployment. Every tender, every factory is being sent to Gujarat, she said, alleging that those who gift away the country’s land and resources to corporate houses will never work for the poor.

The Congress leader said that if the GA forms the government in Bihar, efforts will be made to provide one government job to every poor family. 

Priyanka criticised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying he no longer holds real power. “Nothing is in Nitish Kumar’s hands. The Bihar government functions on remote control from Delhi,” she alleged, adding that money is being distributed before elections to mislead voters. She urged the people not to fall for such temptations and to vote for development, employment, and education.

Aiming at Prime Minister Modi, Priyanka said, instead of addressing corruption and crime, the Prime Minister is more concerned about why Tejaswi Yadav’s photo is missing from Congress posters.

She also slammed the BJP for labelling Biharis as outsiders. “When my brother Rahul Gandhi raised his voice against vote theft in Bihar, BJP leaders called his campaign a ‘yatra for infiltrators.’ 

Priyanka called for change, saying that every election, the BJP tries to steal votes and asked the people to recognise their strength and vote for a government that works for everyone, not just the rich and powerful. 

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Patna, Agency

Amid three tier security arrangements and orders for strict surveillance, the stage is set for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections to be held on Thursday, when 3.75 crore voters will exercise their franchise across 121 constituencies to decide the political destiny of 1,314 candidates. 

The Election Commission and state authorities have made extensive preparations to ensure peaceful, fair, and transparent polling under a multi-layered security arrangement including web casting from all polling stations.
Polling will be conducted from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., except at certain sensitive locations in Munger, Tarapur, Jamalpur, Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Mahishi, and Surajgarha, where voting will end an hour earlier at 5 p.m. due to security considerations.

Director General of Police Vinay Kumar said here today that comprehensive arrangements have been made to ensure free and peaceful polling across all districts. 

He said that during the polling the interstate borders would remain sealed and the security personnel would keep a hawk's eye on every movement across the state. In addition to this the Indo Nepal International border and the state's fringes shared by Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh would remain under strict surveillance.

Kumar said that over 1,650 companies of security forces have been deployed, supported by advanced surveillance systems and rapid response units.

A central control room has been established to monitor the situation statewide, while CCTV cameras have been installed at polling stations and critical locations. 

The DGP said 35,000 women police personnel have been deployed to ensure the safety of women voters and to manage polling duties in female-dominated booths.

Mounted police units have been stationed for crowd control, and additional companies have been assigned to sensitive constituencies. 

The DGP emphasised that criminal elements and candidates with criminal backgrounds are under close surveillance through special video monitoring teams.

In Patna district, District Magistrate S.M. Thyagarajan announced a three-tier security system to ensure smooth and fair voting across all 14 constituencies. 

He said that extra attention is being given to Mokama and Baadh, both marked as highly sensitive areas. Senior administrative and police officers have been specially deployed in these regions, while Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have intensified riverine patrols in the Taal and Diara areas.

The move follows heightened tensions in Mokama after the murder of a Jan Suraj campaign worker. JDU candidate and former MLA Anant Singh was arrested along with several associates in connection with the incident, prompting the administration to tighten security and surveillance in the constituency.

Election Commission officials said that the entire polling process will be live-streamed to guarantee transparency. The Commission has appointed 348 observers, including 121 general observers, 18 police observers, and 33 expenditure observers, to oversee the first phase of voting.

This phase will witness several heavyweight contests. From the ruling NDA, Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, along with 15 cabinet ministers are in the fray. 

Prominent names include Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Shravan Kumar, Mangal Pandey, Madan Sahni, Nitin Naveen, Maheshwar Hazari, Ratnesh Sada, Kedar Prasad Gupta, Surendra Mehta, Sanjay Saraogi, Dr. Sunil Kumar, Jivesh Kumar, Raju Singh, and Krishna Kumar Mantoo.

From the Grand Alliance, key figures include Tejaswi Yadav, Awdh Bihari Choudhary, Dr. Ramanand Yadav, Veena Devi, Lalit Kumar Yadav, Vijendra Choudhary, Renu Kushwaha, Khesari Lal Yadav, Alok Mehta, Bhai Virendra, and Anirudh Yadav.

Other prominent independent or smaller party candidates include Tej Pratap Yadav, Shivdeep Lande, Anand Mishra, V.K. Ravi, Jayprakash Singh, Pushpam Priya Choudhary, and R.K. Mishra.

In this phase, JDU is contesting 57 seats, BJP 48, LJP (Ram Vilas) 13, and RLM two. The RJD is contesting 71 seats, Congress 24, CPI(ML) 14, VIP six, CPI five, and CPI(M) three. The Jan Suraj Party, led by Prashant Kishor, has fielded 118 candidates in this phase.

A total of 3,75,13,302 voters including 1.98 crore men, 1.76 crore women, and 758 third-gender voters are eligible to cast their votes at 45,341 polling stations. There are 5.24 lakh voters aged above 80 years and 6,736 centenarian voters.

In the 2020 Assembly elections, out of these 121 seats, RJD won 42, BJP 32, JDU 23, Congress eight, CPI(ML) seven, VIP four, CPI and CPI(M) two each, and LJP one seat.

The Bihar Assembly elections for 243 seats will be held in two phases November 6 and 11. Counting of votes will take place on November 14, and the entire election process will conclude by November 16. 
The current Assembly’s tenure ends on November 22 this year.

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