The CPM and its Left allies on Monday wrapped up their campaign for the second and final phase of the Assembly polls with a calibrated appeal to consolidate anti-BJP votes.

While underlining Trinamool Congress's alleged goonda raj, the CPM especially urged their supporters — particularly those who had drifted away or turned inactive — not to gravitate towards the saffron camp.

Even after vowing to fight "Trinamool's goons", the CPM's "no vote to BJP" appeal reflects the party's strategic recalibration. Despite maintaining formal equidistance from both Trinamool and the BJP, the CPM has increasingly foregrounded the BJP as the more immediate threat.

With just two days to go, CPM state secretary Md Salim pitched the contest as a dual battle against Trinamool's "misrule" and the BJP’s "divisive politics", alleging both were eroding Bengal’s social ethos in different ways, but identified the BJP as the main adversary.

At a rally at Plassey in Nadia to back Kaliganj candidate Sabina Yasmin, whose daughter Tamanna Sheikh was killed in a bomb attack in June 2025 allegedly by Trinamool-backed goons, Salim sharpened the messaging

“Vote for the Left to save Bengal — its culture, its diversity. Vote to ensure the security and safety of your children, for their jobs, vote to save the poor. Don’t vote for the BJP at all,” he said.

Salim also called to end Trinamool's goonda raj, raising the issue of "Trinamool goons from Murshidabad" who blocked his rally near the Mira Bazar area of Plassey till the CAPF cleared his way.

Still, the appeal not to vote for the BJP stood out.

The CPM's shift is rooted in electoral arithmetic as much as ideological positioning.
After its vote share plummeted to around 6 per cent in the 2021 Assembly polls, the CPM has tried to reverse a transfer of its traditional support base to the BJP — a trend that accelerated since 2014 with the Narendra Modi government in the Centre.

Senior leaders, including former Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar and politburo member Brinda Karat, echoed this line during their campaign visits, cautioning the cadre against backing the BJP out of “frustration” with Trinamool or disillusionment with the Left’s electoral failures. They stressed the need to resist a binary political frame and rebuild the Left as a credible third alternative.

Younger CPM leaders reinforced this pitch on the ground.

Uttarpara candidate Minakshi Mukherjee, after extensive grassroots outreach, framed the choice in practical terms on Monday when she said: “Vote to end Trinamool’s goonda raj and save Bengal from BJP’s divisive politics.”

Her campaign, like others, has attempted to reconnect with voters through localised issues while retaining a broader ideological plank.

In recent years, Bengal's once-invincible Left has been electorally sidelined. In 2021, Trinamool swept 215 of 294 seats and the BJP emerged as the principal Opposition with 77, leaving the Left without representation.

The 2024 Lok Sabha results further entrenched this bipolarity, with Trinamool winning 29 of 42 seats and the BJP 12, while the Left again drew a blank. Since 2011, when Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool ousted the Left, a section of its cadres, unable to counter alleged post-2011 political violence and organisational erosion, had shifted allegiance to the BJP, aiding its rapid rise in the state.

'Bipolar' narrative

Now, the CPM senses both risk and opportunity.

A member of the state secretariat admitted that the leadership increasingly views the BJP as a greater long-term threat. “The BJP’s polarisation agenda has even influenced many of our Hindu leaders recently, particularly after riots in Samserganj and reports of atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh,” he said, while claiming that sustained campaigning has blunted the BJP’s polarisation drive.

Yet, while the Left hopes for a reverse swing of votes from the BJP back to its fold, it must contend with a deeply entrenched bipolar narrative. Herein lies the Trinamool's strategic pitch ahead of the final round. By sharpening its call to “boycott BJP,” the ruling Trinamool is effectively seeking to garner all non-BJP votes in its kitty. Political observers note that this positioning allows Trinamool to convert the contest into a referendum between itself and the BJP, squeezing out space for the Left. Ironically, therefore, while the CPM appeals for a revival of a third front, Trinamool's narrative thrives on sustaining the very Trinamool-BJP binary that the Left seeks to dismantle.

This time, the Left is fighting the polls without the Congress, its ally since 2016.

A Congress leader said this election was a crucial test for the party. "We will definitely win a few seats in Malda and Murshidabad," he said.

Bengal's Congress campaign has been emboldened by Rahul Gandhi, who attacked both the Congress and the BJP equally.

The CPM also hopes to win a few seats — crucial for the party's revival. "At one time, some of our supporters voted for the BJP to get rid of Trinamool’s tyranny. This time, we hope these votes return to us, paving the way for our resurgence,” a CPM leader said.