West Bengal Poll Verdict: Triumph of Populist Politics | Arup Kumar Sen

Trinamool Congress (TMC), the party in power in West Bengal, has improved its score in Lok Sabha polls in 2024, compared to 2019 in terms of number of seats won, 29 seats out of 42 (in 2019, the party won 22 seats). The seats won by its main contender, the BJP, got reduced from 18 in 2019 to 12 in 2024. The percentage of votes won by the TMC also increased from 43.7 in 2019 to roughly 45.7 in 2024; on the other hand, percentage of votes garnered by the BJP came down from 40.6 in 2019 to roughly 38.7 in 2024. The combined vote share of the Congress and the CPI (M), partners in the electoral alliance, was estimated to be 13.2 per cent in 2019 Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, translating into two seats for the Congress and none for the CPI(M). In 2024, their combined votes witnessed a negative swing of over 2 per cent compared to 2019, leading to one seat for the Congress, and none for the Left (See deccanherald.com). It seems that the TMC gained both from the losses suffered by the BJP and the Left-Congress alliance.

It is difficult to give concrete explanations for the legitimization of TMC politics in West Bengal. In the Gramscian reading, modern power regime is legitimized in the public mind through a combination of coercion and consent. West Bengal has a long history of coercive tactics being adopted by the ruling party (including the Left), particularly during elections, to retain their domination and to prevent the dissenting voters casting their votes. So, explanation in terms of coercion as the root of electoral success, being offered by the left and the liberals, is not sufficient to account for the more-than-a-decade-long TMC rule in West Bengal.

Mamata Banerjee-led populist politics, which includes ‘Swasthya Sathi’ (health insurance policy), ‘fair price’ medicine shops, ‘Kanyashree’, ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ and other welfare schemes for footloose people, particularly women, played a big role in creating consent to her populist politics and legitimacy of the TMC in the public mind. It seems that women, particularly subaltern women, voted in large numbers for the TMC in 2024. Moreover, large percentage of Muslim voters in West Bengal continued to maintain trust on Mamata Banerjee as their savior against the aggressive anti-minority politics of the BJP and its outfits.

One can argue against ‘populist politics’, highlighting its authoritarian character. We should keep in mind that ‘populism’ has emerged as the dominant paradigm of politics in the age of neoliberal capitalism. Yogendra Yadav’s insightful reading of ‘populism’ comes to our mind in the present context: “Populism is equated with political irresponsibility, with short-sighted measures meant to appease the people without really helping them. As such, it has come to be seen as pure evil and a sign of ideological corruption. Such a reading fails to understand the role of these non-standard ideological packages in the process of democratisation. Populist ideologies bridged the gap between popular aspirations and the language of high ideology without formally displacing the latter from its dominant position.†(See Yogendra Yadav, Making Sense of Indian Democracy, Permanent Black, 2020)