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    COVER STORY                                                            MARCH 27, 2026      |  The Indian Eye                    4

                                                     FIVE-STATE POLLS

                               POLITICS

                             HEATS UP

                  From sharp rhetoric to shifting alliances, India’s political battleground is intensifying
                                     across five key states ahead of crucial assembly elections

            OUR BUREAU

            Kolkata / New Delhi/ Guwahati / Chennai
                     ith less than a month to
                     go before voting begins,
            Wthe          political  tempera-
            ture  across  five  states—West  Ben-
            gal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala
            and  Puducherry—has  risen  sharply,
            setting the stage for a high-stakes
            electoral contest that could reshape
            regional and national political equa-
            tions. With voting scheduled between
            April 9 and April 29 and counting on
            May 4, parties are ramping up cam-
            paigns, unveiling welfare-heavy mani-
            festos, forging alliances, and sharpen-
            ing ideological attacks.
                At  the  heart  of  the  political
            churn lies a mix of local issues and
            national narratives, with each state
            offering a distinct contest even as
            broader  themes—governance,  iden-  Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP National President Nitin Nabin, and others at the
            tity,  welfare,  and  federalism—cut
            across regions.                         Central Election Committee meeting of the BJP at the BJP headquarters, in New Delhi on Wednesday. (ANI Photo/Jitender Gupta)
               Bengal: Welfare vs Political   expansion of the ‘Lakshmi Bhandar’   seats. The repeat contest between   ernance  achievements.  His  remark
                      Polarization            scheme, which offers monthly finan-  Banerjee  and  BJP  leader  Suvendu   about bringing “every Hindu person
               n  West  Bengal,  Chief  Minister   cial assistance to women and unem-  Adhikari adds a personal and sym-  in the fold of the BJP” signals a con-
               Mamata  Banerjee  has  launched   ployed youth.                  bolic dimension to the battle.    tinued emphasis on identity politics.
            Ian aggressive campaign to retain     Banerjee  also  raised  concerns    Assam: Identity and             The BJP-led alliance, which won
            power for a fourth consecutive term.   about alleged attempts to destabi-    Consolidation            75 seats in 2021, is aiming for a third
            Unveiling  the  Trinamool  Congress   lize the state through “money and                               consecutive term. On the other hand,
            manifesto, she positioned her party   arms” from across borders, warning   n Assam, the election is shaping   the Congress is attempting to rebuild
            as the sole protector of Bengal’s iden-  of efforts to impose indirect Presi-  up as a direct contest between the   its base, though it faces the challenge
            tity while launching a sharp attack on   dent’s  Rule.  This  narrative  reflects  IBJP-led NDA and the Congress.   of countering both organizational
            Prime Minister Narendra Modi.     a familiar electoral strategy in Ben-  Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma   strength and narrative dominance of
                “Instead  of  ‘Sabka  Vikas’,  they   gal—framing the contest as one be-  has framed the election around iden-  the ruling coalition.
            have done ‘Sabka Vinash’,” Banerjee   tween regional autonomy and central   tity and development, declaring: “We   Interestingly, the  Trinamool
            said,  accusing  the  Centre  of  under-  interference.             want to secure identity of Assam. We   Congress has also entered the Assam
            mining welfare and social harmony.    The stakes remain high. In 2021,   want to have faster development.”  fray, naming Banerjee among its 18-
            Her pitch blends populist schemes   the  Trinamool  Congress  secured  a   Sarma’s  campaign  reflects  a   star campaigners, indicating an at-
            with administrative promises, includ-  dominant 215 seats in the 294-mem-  broader  BJP  strategy  of  consolidat-  tempt to expand beyond Bengal and
            ing the rollout of ‘Duare Chikitsa’—a   ber assembly, while the BJP emerged   ing support along cultural and reli-  disrupt traditional political equations.
            doorstep  healthcare  initiative—and   as the principal opposition with 77   gious lines while highlighting gov-  Continued on next page... >>

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