Swati Maliwal Backs BJP Lead In Bengal, Calls It End of Violence Politics

Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal on Monday said that what she described as decades-old politics of “violence” and “appeasement” in West Bengal is coming to an end, as early Election Commission trends showed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) taking a strong lead in the state Assembly election counting process. She made the remarks as vote counting progressed across constituencies amid closely watched political developments.

According to Election Commission of India (ECI) trends available around 1:25 p.m., the BJP was leading in 188 Assembly seats in West Bengal, while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was ahead in 94 seats. These figures indicated a significant gap between the two major parties during the early stages of counting. Officials clarified that trends were still evolving as counting continued across multiple rounds.

In a post on social media platform X, Maliwal said the BJP was “marching towards a historic and resounding victory” in West Bengal. She claimed that the state’s political culture shaped over decades by “thuggery, violence, and appeasement of vote banks” was now undergoing a major transformation. Maliwal, who recently shifted from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the BJP, also congratulated party leadership and workers, crediting them for what she called a strong performance.

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She also extended her remarks beyond West Bengal, stating that early trends in Assam and Puducherry suggested that the BJP and its alliance, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), were likely to retain power there as well. She described these developments as part of a broader political mandate and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and other BJP leaders, along with party workers, for what she termed a “successful outcome” across states.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leaders also reacted strongly to the early trends, expressing confidence that they reflected a larger political shift in West Bengal. BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said both exit polls and counting trends were indicating a similar direction in voter preference. He described it as a “wave of nationalism” in the state and claimed that the final results would soon confirm the emerging pattern seen in early counting.

Trivedi further added that the conduct of elections under the leadership of the Prime Minister and senior party leadership reflected a shift toward peaceful and transparent polling. He stated that the ongoing counting process showed a strong public mandate in favour of change, which he said would become clearer once final results were officially declared by the Election Commission.

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