The electoral landscape of South Bengal, particularly during the second phase involving seven contiguous districts and Kolkata, reflected a complex turf of political contest to challenge the political hegemony of TMC. Previous assembly elections in the state have confirmed that the region has overwhelmingly switched over to become a consolidated fortress of TMC following the decline of the Left Front’s protracted dominance. After a brief spell of the BJP’s rise in Bengal during the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the 17th State Assembly election in 2021 corroborated this shift, solidifying the TMC’s position as the primary political force in most of the districts of South West Bengal. Needless to say, Mamata Banerjee, the supremo of TMC is still widely perceived to be the champion of the state cum federal interests despite the talk of anti-incumbency.
However, the political geography of South Bengal is not monolithic. Specific constituencies maintain distinct tradition of competitive politics where opposition parties—ranging from BJP to the Left parties—retain significant influence. In districts like Nadia, constituencies such as Shantipur and Ranaghat South have historically demonstrated a capacity for strong electoral challenge, often defying broader trends. Similarly, in the urban and semi-urban belts of South 24 Parganas, such as Jadavpur and Kultali, the Left Front has historically maintained pockets of ideological support that challenge the TMC’s dominance. North 24 Parganas presents a similar mosaic; areas like Dum Dum, Baduria, Kamarhati, and Basirhat North are frequently identified as battlegrounds where the opposition has a viable force to secure victory, given local demographics and anti-incumbency sentiment. In this election, ISF, despite lack of organizational weakness, is expected to emerge as a popular choice among rural voters in not only Bhangar but also in different parts of North 24 Parganas. In the second phase voter turnout which was roughly above 60 percent recorded in Kolkata till 4 PM, serves as a critical metric for political analysts to gauge relatively lower enthusiasm among average urban voters.
Like the first phase, the second phase of the election has been characterized by a notably peaceful atmosphere, a development largely attributed to the rigorous security protocols enforced by the Election Commission (EC). While the TMC made the narrative that the elaborately planned stringent measures were devised as a strategic manoeuver and a tool to “brutalise democracy”, the presence of the many paramilitary platoons showed temerity to provide a robust deterrent at sensitive areas against electoral malpractices. Yet, what was definitely hurtful to the dignity of voters was the aggressive role of some police observers which created a point of contention and controversy because instead of overseeing the security, those officers were out to overstep the authority bestowed by law. It was okay to control miscreants to ensure that polls take place without violence or disruption but it was a different body language in which they appeared delivering ultimatum.
This time, the state’s electoral landscape is further distinguished by a significant shift in political representation. The absence of long-standing veteran figures—such as Subrata Mukherjee, Paresh Pal, Sadhan Pandey, Abdul Mannan, and Rezzak Mollah—marks a generational transition within state politics. In their place, the emergence of new candidates like Shreya Pandey and Kunal Ghosh highlights a strategic infusion of fresh faces into the contest. Simultaneously, this phase was a high-stakes arena for political heavyweights, featuring prominent figures such as Mamata Banerjee, Suvendu Adhikari, Firad Hakim, Minakshi Mukherjee, Naushad Siddiqui, and Swapan Dasgupta, whose participation unravelled the intense competitive nature of this phase.
Today it was a little cloudy in South Bengal with mild temperature. So, it was conducive for the voters and also a shorter queue in front of the polling room indicated the efficient management of the polls. However, the second phase saw the phenomenon where voter turnout surged significantly in the final hour of the election. In the second phase of the 2026 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, where overall turnout reached a record level of roughly 90% with the highest turnout in East Burdwan, the late-day spike can be attributed to several factors: 1) Fear of disenfranchisement after SIR in general was a great puller even among the average households. 2) We also assume that political parties did intense last-minute mobilisation, and thirdly, as a low percentage of voters’ turnout became public through media, a psychological bandwagon effect might have created a sense of urgency and civic duty among the undecided Voters.
Gouri Sankar Nag
Professor
Department of Political Science
S-K-B University, West Bengal
&
Manas Mukul Bandyopadhyay
Former Head & Associate Prof
Chandernagore College, Hooghly
Good analysis.