Close Contests, Big Stakes: BJP Plans Bengal Comeback In 70 Tight Races

Last Updated:July 30, 2025, 11:55 IST

These 70 seats fall under different Lok Sabha constituencies where the party trailed by not more than 15,000 votes, according to the 2024 Lok Sabha results

The understanding is that these seats, or most of them, can swing the BJP’s way if the party puts the right effort. (PTI)

With the assembly election barely seven to eight months away in West Bengal, the BJP has agreed on a strategy based on which it will launch its initial groundwork to emerge victorious in the state.

The party has zeroed in on 70 crucial seats that it must win if it is serious about ousting Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) from the state in 2026, BJP sources told News18.

These 70 seats fall under different Lok Sabha constituencies where the party trailed by not more than 15,000 votes, according to the 2024 Lok Sabha results. The understanding is that these seats, or most of them, can swing the BJP’s way if the party puts the right effort.

In 49 out of 70 seats, BJP trailed by less than 10,000 votes. These include constituencies like Naba Dwip, Nakashipara, Sonarpur South, Barrackpore, Dum Dum North, Jagatdal, Rajarhat-Gopalpur, Barasat, Asansol North, and Kolkata-based seats like Rashbehari, Bhabanipur, Kashipur-Belgachia, Maniktala and others.

In the remaining 21 seats, the BJP was behind by 10,000-15,000 votes. The list includes constituencies such as Hingalganj, Basirhat South, Howrah North, Shibpur, Kalna, Katwa, Suri, Kolkata’s Chowringhee among others.

According to sources, in a recently held closed-door strategy meeting, BJP leaders agreed that if campaigning starts with immediate effect and all booth committees are made functional in these 70 seats, the party has a real chance to reap the benefits of anti-incumbency.

“Though there are 92 assembly seats where we have data that shows BJP was ahead of its nearest rival political party in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, many of these seats are traditionally BJP’s strongholds. So, the primary goal is not to go for retaining the seats but to ensure the party wins the 70 seats where we were marginally behind. That will change the game," said a BJP state executive committee member.

In the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections, the BJP won 77 seats out of 294, while TMC secured a landslide majority with 213 seats.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, the BJP won 12 out of the 42 parliamentary seats. This was a decrease from the 18 seats it had secured in the 2019 general elections. The TMC won 29.

News elections Close Contests, Big Stakes: BJP Plans Bengal Comeback In 70 Tight Races

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