BJP needs to be careful: While rebel TMC leaders can help pass important bills in Parliament, here is my word of caution as a Bengali

The Trinamool Congress party, which came into existence in 1998, is counting its last days. A little more than a month earlier, no one could have possibly imagined this drastic downfall of the party. Supreme leader Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek, who once threatened to teach BJP workers a lesson in violence, are now fighting for existence and political relevance. TMC’s heavyweight leaders have now created new factions and have openly declared rebellion against the Pishi-Bhaipo hegemony. It was not until a long time ago that Mamata Banerjee was fantasising about the overthrow of the Modi government in Delhi. While Narendra Modi continues to remain in power, the TMC supremo has nowhere to go. There are now talks about Mamata merging whatever is left of her party with the Congress as a final act. This is what happens to electoral autocrats, drunk in power. When the public overwhelmingly gives its veto, politicians who took people for granted lose what they took decades to build. TMC is in such a stage of its life. And mind you, none of this is the BJP’s doing. In fact, party leaders such as Dilip Ghosh, Samik Bhattacharjee and Swapan Dasgupta have categorically pointed out that hoodlums from TMC will not be allowed entry in the BJP. To attest to this fact, TMC goons who harassed and extorted from the public were paraded on the roads before their arrest. The message was clear: No criminal affiliated with the TMC will be shown any mercy. But, infighting with the TMC has opened a window of opportunity for the Bharatiya Janata Party. The first, of course, is the opportunity to witness the decimation of Mamata’s regime, one party leader at a time. Three Rajya Sabha MPs belonging to the TMC have tendered their resignation. 58 MLAs have joined hands and turned down Mamata’s choice of the leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Vidhan Sabha. 20 MPs in Lok Sabha have declared a Parliamentary majority and demanded to be identified as a separate faction. The internal disintegration is a sight for the sore eyes of the BJP, which was battered and cornered for 15 years in Mamata’s Bengal bastion. But there is another story, far more important than the destruction of a rogue and corrupt regional party. It is the new arithmetic in the Union Parliament. The third term of the Modi government is different from the rest. For a change, the BJP failed to secure an absolute majority in 2024. The support of the allies could take the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to about 293 seats only. For the first time in 12 years, the BJP failed to pass a constitutional amendment. It fell short of the numbers to enact the pan-India delimitation and the women’s reservation bill. But the scenario could change with the infighting breaking out in the TMC. A rebel faction led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha has pledged external support to the NDA. This alone can take the total strength of the BJP-led alliance to 313. Earlier, the BJP was able to rope in non-aligned parties and secure 298 votes during the 131st constitutional amendment. Now, the NDA is looking at a figure of 318 votes. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which was betrayed by the Congress party to latch onto power in Tamil Nadu, could extend support to the NDA on specific issues. For context, DMK has 22 MPs in the Lok Sabha. And that could mean the possibility of securing 340 MPs to pass important constitutional amendments and legislation. In that sense, NDA is short of 20 seats to attain 2/3rd majority in the lower House with the current strength of 540. This gives a fighting chance to the BJP-led alliance to even think of pushing critical legislation through the Lok Sabha. As for the Rajya Sabha, the BJP’s current strength is 113, and the total NDA’s tally is 148 in a House of 235 members. Given the fact that 3 TMC MPs have resigned, the BJP can get 3 new faces to the Rajya Sabha and take NDA past the 150 mark. And the 2/3rd majority mark in the Upper House is 163 members. While this new development has made the BJP formidable and its supporters happy, a large section of Bengalis in West Bengal is watching the development with a certain sense of anxiety. It took 15 years for a community to unite and overthrow the regime of TMC. The people of Bengal do not change their political allegiance overnight. But when they do, it is brutal! The loser has no takers. And this is what happened to Mamata Banerjee and her Bhaipo Abhishek. TMC leaders, ranging from the local grassroot-level hooligan to its MLAs and MPs, have supported, abetted, endorsed and rationalised the killings, abductions, rapes and destruction of livelihoods of BJP workers. More than 300 Bengali Hindus lost their lives at the hands of the TMC only because they supported the Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP’s ground-thumping victory against the Mamata Raj is a testament to the Faith that the common Bengali has put in the Modi government. The supreme sacrifice made by these BJP karyakartas facilitated the saffron surge in Bengal. Today, a large section of Bengalis is worried that many TMC heavyweight leaders who once harassed the BJP workers would join the ranks of the BJP. This would then be a grave injustice to the 300-odd families of BJP workers, who lost their lives in political violence. I have spoken to a few Bengalis who are fearful that the killer may join the party which he had once victimised. And this is where I share this word of caution to the BJP: Understandably, the government needs to pass strong legislation and make political compromises, keeping in mind the larger picture of the nation’s interest. As such, TMC’s rebel faction extending support to the NDA in matters of legislation, and the latter accepting the same, can be thought of as one such compromise. But in no case should TMC MLAs and MPs be incorporated into the BJP. The criminal cases against them should not be dropped. Their crimes need to be brought to justice. They cannot be granted political immunity. Because that would be a travesty of justice. The overwhelming mandate in Bengal for the BJP was also a vote against the TMC. If party leaders from Mamata’s camp find refuge in the BJP, then the same public which once adored the saffron party will become its biggest dissidents. BJP cannot afford to lose the support and trust of these Bengalis who made 4th May 2026 a reality. BJP thus needs to walk a tightrope, balance political narratives and tread carefully. One wrong step and it risks alienating the people of Bengal.