Stories
Are Muslims changing their mindset? BJP's historic victory in Bengal's Domkal seat becomes a case study.
- •In a historic outcome, the BJP won the Muslim-majority Domkal assembly seat in West Bengal by a massive margin.
- •Domkal has around 70 percent Muslim population, and historically, no Hindu candidate had ever won from this constituency.
- •Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari claimed that about 60 percent of Muslim voters in Domkal supported the BJP in the by-election.
- •Analysts suggest that weariness with TMC corruption, law and order issues, and the appeal of development have driven this shift.
Key Questions Answered
In the Muslim-majority Domkal assembly seat where Muslims comprise roughly 70 percent of the population, BJP candidate Shankharabh Sarkar won by a massive margin of 75,816 votes. Political analysts attribute this shift to a changing mindset among Muslim voters, who grew weary of corruption and law-and-order issues under the TMC and began favoring BJP's governance and welfare schemes.
In the by-election for the Nandigram seat—considered the stronghold of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari—BJP candidate Hasi Rani Rath defeated Congress candidate Milon Prodhan by a record 1,22,753 votes. Adhikari claimed that approximately 80 percent of the local Muslim voters supported the BJP in this election.
Weary of corruption, cut-money practices, and law-and-order complaints under the TMC regime, Muslim voters in certain regions shifted allegiance. Additionally, the realization that fears of being sent to Bangladesh under BJP rule were unfounded, combined with the appeal of central and state welfare schemes, helped draw Muslim support toward the BJP.
