India, May 5 -- The BJP's landslide victory in the 2026 West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections, decimating the 15-year-long rule of Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC), is no overnight miracle. It reflects a perfect storm of anti-incumbency, strategic planning and messaging coupled with TMC's self-inflicted wounds.

By the fag end of her term, the West Bengal Government led by Mamata Banerjee faced accusations of entrenched corruption, syndicate raj, extortion networks and governance failures. Scandals ensnared senior TMC leaders, leading to even the arrests of ministers like Partha Chatterjee and Jyotipriya Mallick. These cases, probed by central agencies (CBI, ED), eroded trust even among TMC's traditional welfare beneficiari...