Final Part: What Bengal Is Really Voting ForThe next election in West Bengal will not be a referendum on religion alone.Nor will it be decided purely by welfare arithmetic or campaign noise.It will be a vote on risk.Bengal’s electorate has lived through decades of political shifts, street movements, and ideological swings. What remains consistent is a deeply rooted instinct: avoid sudden disorder unless the alternative feels unquestionably safer.
Final Part: What Bengal Is Really Voting For The next election in West Bengal will not be a referendum on religion alone. Nor will it be decided purely by welfare arithmetic or campaign noise. It will be a vote on risk. Bengal’s electorate has lived through decades of political shifts, street movements, and ideological swings. What remains consistent is a deeply rooted instinct: avoid sudden disorder unless the alternative feels unquestionably safer. Moments like the recent public procession — where administration, armed forces, students, and citizens walked together under the image of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose — matter because they reinforce a single psychological signal: The system, however imperfect, is not collapsing. For a large segment of voters, especially those outside ideological extremes, that signal outweighs anger, dissatisfaction, or abstract promises. This does not mean governments cannot change in Bengal. It means they change only when three conditions align...