Kolkata, March 15 (IANS) With the Election Commission of India (ECI) announcing a two-phase polling schedule for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections on Sunday, political observers believe the polls could pose the toughest challenge for the ruling Trinamool Congress since it came to power in 2011.

One of the key challenges cited by observers is the impact of communal violence reported in parts of the state in April last year after protests against the newly promulgated Waqf (Amendment) Act turned violent.

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court had observed that had the state government taken prompt and timely action, including deciding earlier on the deployment of Central Armed Forces (CAF), the situation might not have escalated to such an extent.

Observers note that the incidents of violence in Murshidabad reportedly alienated a section of Hindu voters, while the state government’s subsequent change in stance regarding the Waqf (Amendment) Act is believed to have caused discontent among sections of Muslim voters, who have traditionally been seen as a key support base of the Trinamool Congress since 2011.

Initially, during the first half of 2025 when the Waqf (Amendment) Act was promulgated, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that the Act would not be implemented in West Bengal.

However, later in the year the state government issued a notification directing the registration of Waqf properties in the state on the UMEED portal within a stipulated deadline.

This prompted non-BJP opposition parties in the state, particularly the CPI(M)-led Left Front, the Congress and the All India Secular Front, to accuse the Trinamool Congress government of adopting a contradictory stand on the issue.

Another major challenge for the ruling party has been the order by a division bench of the Supreme Court cancelling 25,753 teaching and non-teaching appointments in various state-run schools across West Bengal over irregularities in the recruitment process.

The apex court also endorsed the earlier observation of the Calcutta High Court that the entire panel had to be cancelled as the state government failed to provide separate lists distinguishing “tainted” candidates from “untainted” ones.

Observers also point to the alleged rape of a law student within her college premises in Kasba in South Kolkata earlier this year as another issue that has generated political controversy.

All three accused in the case were reportedly associated with the Trinamool Congress’s student wing, Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP). Opposition parties have been raising the issue to target the ruling party over law and order and campus politics in the state.

Another factor being discussed ahead of the polls is the deletion of a large number of names from the electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal.

According to available figures, around 63 lakh names were removed from the final voters’ list published on February 28, and further deletions may occur after the completion of the ongoing judicial adjudication of voters placed under the “logical discrepancy” category.

In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, polling began on April 18 and the results were declared on May 2. The state recorded an average voter turnout of 82.3 per cent across the 294 Assembly constituencies.

The Trinamool Congress won 215 of the 290 seats it contested, while the BJP secured 77 seats.

The CPI-M-led Left Front and the All India Secular Front (AISF) had a seat-sharing arrangement in 2021. While AISF managed to win one seat, both the Left Front and the Congress failed to win any seats in the Assembly.

This time, the Congress and the Left Front are contesting the elections separately.

–IANS

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