Left-Congress may have played spoilsport for BJP in at least 12 seats of Bengal

The Congress-Left combine’s increased vote share as well as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act gaining no traction may have been key factors that led to the BJP’s poor performance in the state.

The Left-Congress combine got 12% votes across the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, denting the BJP’s prospects in at least a dozen seats while seemingly playing spoilsport to the Trinamool Congress in three-four seats of North Bengal.

The combine fielded a mix of popular and senior leaders from its strongholds, with the aim of securing the maximum number of seats. “While we failed to increase our tally, we managed to increase our vote share in some seats,” a senior Congress leader said. The Congress and Left parties are a part of the Opposition INDIA bloc.

Election Commission (EC) data shows that the Congress-Left combine may have impacted the chances of the TMC in seats like Balurghat, Raigunj and Maldaha Uttar. The TMC lost the Maldaha Uttar and Raigunj seats by 77,708 and 68,197 votes respectively as Congress candidates secured over 2 and 3 lakh votes respectively in the two seats.

The Congress, which contested 12 seats, secured a vote share of 19% and emerged victorious in one seat – Maldaha Dakshin – while securing the second spot in Baharampur and Jangipur.

“In North Bengal and Murshidabad, the minority votes were split between us and the TMC, which got a lion’s share of the votes. But, we have increased our vote share as compared to the 2021 Assembly election,” a senior Congress leader said.

On the other hand, in south Bengal, the CPI(M) may have managed to regain a minor share of the Hindu vote which had consolidated in favour of the BJP. The increase in the Left’s vote share in the region is being seen as a key factor in