New Delhi: Amid a serious vote count and tallying of Assembly Polls in West Bengal and 4 other states in India progresses, people are eliciting laughter by branding Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha – Rahul Gandhi – as the saffron party’s unfailing star campaigner.
The fans of Aditya Dhar’s “Dhurandhar” film are branding Gandhi as “Rahul Hamza Mazari” – a play on the words comparing the dynast to an undercover spy in Pakistan who is covertly batting for India.
“Bhaiyyon and behna,” Rahul Gandhi’s speech snippet goes – “TMC can never hope to defeat the BJP, mark my words!” he completes.
Didi now take some rest,chk ur time on both of your watches.
Also don’t forget who worked against you. Sonia ka laal dekho kya bola. pic.twitter.com/HH0QfpHPRp— Lotus 🪷🇮🇳 (@LotusBharat) May 4, 2026
Early trends from West Bengal’s assembly elections place the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead in 194 of 291 constituencies, exceeding the 148 needed for a majority after a strong 2021 showing by Trinamool Congress with 213 seats. The Congress Party has absolutely no footprint here and while the Left is leading in three constituencies, 2 from other parties or independents were in the lead in the 294 strong Assembly.
Counting started at 8 a.m. IST across five states using postal ballots and EVM rounds, with TMC trailing at 92 seats and accusing the Election Commission of delaying trends for over 70 seats.
Mamata Banerjee and her All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) have governed West Bengal since May 20, 2011 (over 14 years as of May 2025) winning three consecutive terms. Her tenure followed decades of Left Front (communist) rule in the crucial border state.
West Bengal has a long history of political violence (under Left and TMC). Post-2021 election violence saw attacks on BJP workers/supporters (murders, rapes, arson reported).
Around 2.4 lakh (240,000) Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel, equivalent to roughly 2,400+ companies, were deployed for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections—the highest ever for a single state.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) and central authorities justified it primarily for ensuring free, fair, and violence-free elections amid West Bengal’s history of election-related violence, booth capturing, intimidation, and post-poll clashes (especially in 2021).
Data on electoral violence in the state drove the need for heavy central forces to instill voter confidence and prevent intimidation.
Available data and reports strongly indicate that the large-scale deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) helped many voters participate more fearlessly than in previous West Bengal elections
The 2026 polls saw zero or just one reported death linked to poll-related violence (the lowest in nearly two decades). This contrasts sharply with prior elections (e.g., multiple deaths in 2021, 17+ in some reports; dozens in 2019/2023 panchayat polls). Overall incidents dropped significantly from historical highs (e.g., 278+ violent events in 2021).
