A supporter dismantles an election billboard bearing a portrait of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee after the party failed to secure a majority in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, in Kolkata. (AP Photo) 3 min read New Delhi May 4, 2026 10:29 PM IST First published on: May 4, 2026 at 10:19 PM IST The West Bengal Assembly polls, which are set to give the BJP its first government in the state, have some similarities with the 2011 polls, when Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) first came to power dethroning the Buddhadeb Bhattacharya-led Left regime. However, there are some divergences too. The most obvious similarity is that both elections saw a long stint of a party rule reversed – if the BJP unseated Banerjee after 15 years, the TMC on its part had in 2011 ended 34 years of Left rule in the state. Both verdicts were clear – the BJP crossed 200 seats in Bengal this time, and the TMC and the Congress in alliance had crossed 225 seats in 2011.…