IT WAS NOT JUST EC; BJP WORKERS NURTURED THE ‘LOTUS’ IN BENGAL WITH THEIR OWN BLOOD

IT WAS NOT JUST EC; BJP WORKERS NURTURED THE ‘LOTUS’ IN BENGAL WITH THEIR OWN BLOOD

8-MAY-ENG 2

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA---------------------------Some people still live under the misconception that the Election Commission served power to the BJP in Bengal on a silver platter.

They believe that EVMs, Central Forces, or interference from Delhi handed the BJP its victory. However, those who make such claims understand neither the ground reality of Bengal nor the nature of the struggle waged there.

For in Bengal, the 'Lotus' bloomed through blood long before it did through the ballot.

1. Hundreds of Corpses, Thousands of Ravaged Homes:

Between 2011 and 2025, hundreds of BJP workers were killed in Bengal.

Some were blown up by bombs; others were found hanging from trees; the bodies of yet others were recovered from rivers.

Thousands of homes were torched. Be it Nandigram or Birbhum, Cooch Behar or Basirhat—

In the aftermath of elections, entire villages were emptied out in the name of "retribution"—solely because their inhabitants had voted for the BJP.

Even female workers of the party's women's wing were not spared; #Rape# was weaponized as a political tool.

All to instill fear. The High Court itself was compelled to order a CBI inquiry into the post-poll violence that erupted following the 2021 elections.

2. Yet, Their Morale Remained Unbroken:

When a party's booth president is found hanging from a tree in the morning, and by the afternoon, his son sits at that very booth serving as a polling agent—such indomitable morale certainly does not stem from EVMs.

When a woman whose home has been reduced to ashes takes up the party flag once again and goes door-to-door during the next election—that courage is not bestowed by the Election Commission.

The atmosphere of terror—cultivated first during 34 years of Leftist rule preceding the TMC, and subsequently during the TMC's own 15-year tenure—was borne squarely upon the chests of BJP workers. They endured it all: legal cases, imprisonment, social ostracism, and the loss of their livelihoods.

3. A 15-Year Penance—Only Then Did the Flower Bloom. 2011: 1 MLA

2016: 3 MLAs

2019 Lok Sabha: 18 MPs — Sent shockwaves across the entire nation

2021 Assembly: 77 MLAs; the Principal Opposition

2024 Lok Sabha: 12 Seats

2026 Assembly: Power

This trajectory was not built in a single day. It represents the enduring wait of those mothers who, on the thirteenth-day rites of their sons, vowed that the struggle must never cease.

It embodies the patience of those settlements that lived in relief camps for ten years, yet never bowed down.

4. Therefore, dispel any misconceptions you may be harboring.

Those who claim, "The Election Commission handed them the victory," should visit the graves where party workers—draped in the BJP flag—now rest in eternal slumber.

Let them touch the ashes of those burnt-down homes. Let them look into the eyes of those women who, despite losing everything, never abandoned the party.

In Bengal, power was not attained through the aid of any machine. Here, behind every single vote lies a corresponding sacrifice.

After 15 years of shedding blood and sweat—after counting the bodies of the fallen—only then has the 'Lotus' finally bloomed in Bengal today.

This power did not emanate from Delhi; it emerged from the very streets of Bengal. And should anyone, out of sheer misconception, label this a "gift," it constitutes a grave insult to those martyrs who paid the ultimate price for democracy with their very lives.