TMC eyes opposition areas, allies' space; BJP plans 'united' comeback
Trinamool Congress in Bengal, 2023 was a year marred by alleged corruption charges in the recruitment and PDS scams, arrests of ruling party ministers, and a slow organisational shift from a CM Mamata Banerjee-oriented party to the mantle slowly being shared by her nephew and TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, earning the party the sobriquet of a 'parivaar baad' (dynastic politics) party. Despite these hiccups, TMC has maintained its grip on its votebank by sweeping the panchayat and all the other bypolls which took place in 2023.
The BJP, which has ascended in stature from a non-entity in 2014 (with two seats) to winning 18 seats in 2019, has become a force to be reckoned with. It has set an ambitious target of winning 35 of the 42 in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and is making corruption in education, health and MGNREGA, and its fight against 'parivaar baad' as its main poll plank.
Despite its weak organisational network, internal fault lines in its leadership and the feud between the old and new factions, the BJP has successfully established itself as the main opposition, after winning 77 seats in the 2021 assembly polls, making its significant presence felt in 2023 with Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Suvendu Adhikari leading from the front, both on the ground and inside the assembly.
However, defection has been a major cause of concern, reducing the number of MLAs from 77 to 69.
Though riddled with corruption charges, the Trinamool Congress has not witnessed a single electoral setback in 2023. In the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the party is working hard to woo North Bengal and tribal-dominated Junglemahal regions — Purulia, Bankura and Jhargram and Matua-- which have been BJP strongholds
