BJP's dipping vote share casts doubt on party's ambitious Lok Sabha target in Bengal

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

BJP's vote share during the recently-held panchayat polls in West Bengal, coupled with the unexpected resurgence of the Left and Congress, raises questions about the party's ambitious target of securing 35 Lok Sabha seats from the state in the 2024 elections. While the Bengal BJP narrowly maintained its main opposition position with a 22.88% vote share, down from 38% in 2021 assembly polls, the Left-Congress-ISF alliance has doubled its vote share to 20.80%, up from 10% in the previous state polls, posing a significant challenge.

The TMC achieved its highest-ever vote share of approximately 51.14%, surpassing its previous result of nearly 48% in the last assembly polls. While state BJP leaders attributed the party's decline to alleged violence and bloodshed during the polls, they also acknowledged the need to address internal organisational challenges plaguing the saffron camp since the assembly poll defeat.

«You cannot remain in denial by claiming that everything is alright with the organisation and look the other way by blaming violence for the decline in vote share. Organisational loopholes need to be identified and plugged,» BJP national secretary Anupam Hazra told PTI.

Speaking on the state unit's ambitious target of winning 35 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, Hazra said, «It seems tough if you go by the dismal status of the organisation.» «In politics, nothing is impossible, but there are doubts if you go by our present organisational strength and decline in vote share in the last few elections. But at the same time, you must acknowledge the captivating effect Prime Minister Narendra Modi has when he starts campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls as there is no challenger in the opposition camp,» he said.