



Tamil Nadu vs West Bengal: Two polls, one test for BJP’s state-level momentum
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.On Thursday, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal—two states with sharply different political rhythms—head to the polls. Tamil Nadu will vote in a single phase across all 234 seats, while West Bengal begins its first phase in 152 of 294 constituencies.Both contests will test the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) momentum: it has little presence in Tamil Nadu but poses a serious challenge to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal.Mint explores:West Bengal has a history of extended single-party/alliance rule. The state was governed by the Left Front, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), for 34 years before Mamata Banerjee’s rise ended that run in 2011.
The pattern has largely endured since. The Banerjee-led TMC has been in power for three consecutive terms and is seeking a fourth.Even as the BJP made gains in the last election, winning 77 seats, opinion polls project another TMC victory, with 155–200 seats.Tamil Nadu has typically alternated between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and their allies. Consecutive terms are rare, making chief minister M.K.
Stalin’s re-election bid a test of that pattern. The AIADMK, under J. Jayalalithaa, was the last to win back-to-back terms in 2011 and 2016.The BJP has a negligible presence in the state, though it has often allied with the AIADMK.
Opinion polls are divided on the outcome.The two states diverge not just politically, but economically.Tamil Nadu has been among the faster-growing state economies, recording an average 6.7% growth in real gross state domestic product (GSDP) between 2011-12 and 2024-25. West Bengal has lagged, with average growth of 4.8%. As a result, Tamil Nadu has
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