Ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee has projected that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will secure fewer than 50 seats, a decline from the 77 seats BJP won in 2021. Banerjee emphasized that attacks on TMC would only strengthen the party and expressed confidence in TMC winning over 256 seats in the upcoming polls. Meanwhile, newly appointed West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya has stated that the BJP is not against minorities but opposes violence and communalism. Bhattacharya called for unity within the BJP to defeat TMC and asserted that the party's fight is not religious but against those undermining India. He highlighted widespread public desire for change and the end of TMC's rule, asserting that no force can bring Mamata Banerjee back to power for a fourth term. BJP leaders have also urged the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Congress to ally with them against TMC. The BJP leadership has vowed to address issues of violence allegedly linked to TMC and has called for a political shift in West Bengal in the 2026 elections.