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BJP surge in West Bengal powered by Muslim vote split fracturing TMC bastions
Politics
Published on 5 May 2026
A long consolidated Muslim bloc fractured
BJP’s breakthrough in West Bengal relied less on a huge jump in its own vote share and more on a split in Muslim votes that had long tilted behind the TMC in minority-heavy districts like Murshidabad, Malda, and Uttar Dinajpur. Fragmentation across Congress, Left and smaller outfits like AJUP weakened TMC in tight races as Hindu votes consolidated for BJP.
- BJP gains were fueled by Muslim vote fragmentation, not just base expansion
- TMC was weakened in closely contested minority-dominated districts
- Congress, Left, and AJUP split the vote away from TMC
- Parallel consolidation of Hindu votes aided BJP’s rise
Read the full story at The Economic Times
This summarization was done by Beige for a story published on 
The Economic Times