Will BJP's Communalism and SIR Cocktail Work in Bengal?

Name: Will BJPs Communalism and SIR Cocktail Work in Bengal? - The Wire
Uploaded: 2026-04-27T13:06:28+05:30
Channel: The Wire
Description: The Wire's Sravasti Dasgupta is joined by Maidul Islam, political scientist and Professor of Political Science, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta.

The Wire's Sravasti Dasgupta is joined by Maidul Islam, political scientist and Professor of Political Science, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta.

Sravasti Dasgupta

The Wire's Sravasti Dasgupta is joined by Maidul Islam, political scientist and Professor of Political Science, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta.

After the first phase of elections in West Bengal conducted under the shadow of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls following which the electorate in the state has shrunk by about 90 lakh, the state has seen a record high voter turnout of about 93%.

Home Minister Amit Shah has declared that the BJP will win 110 seats out of the 152 that went to the polls on Thursday.

What explains the BJP's confidence? Will its campaign riding on communalism and driving out alleged illegal infiltrators work? Will it gain from 15 years of anti-incumbency against Mamata Banerjee? and Will it finally manage to breakthrough in Bengal, a state has remained out of reach despite three successive governments at the centre?

The Wire's Sravasti Dasgupta is joined by Maidul Islam, political scientist and Professor of Political Science, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta.

This article went live on April twenty-seventh, two thousand twenty six, at six minutes past one in the afternoon.

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