I was closely watching the  Gram Panchayat Elections in West Bengal , namely for two reasons .One to see if the efforts of the main opposition BJP to create a picture of violence and lawlessness would be accepted by the people of West Bengal and number two to understand if the Welfare Schemes and Projects of the Mamata Benarjee Government has made an impact on the poor and BPL voters . The Trinamool Congress (TMC) , led by the effervescent and dynamic Mamata Benerjee has managed to keep her party ten feet ahead of the BJP .The Central Government had tried every trick in the book to bog down Didi (Mamata Benerjee) , including using the Governor of West Bengal to gain brownie points and have failed miserably . Politics in West Bengal has a lot of resemblance to the Politics in Odisha , and the two regional parties have the BJP as their main opponent in their respective states . Naveen Patnaik , the unquestionable  mass leader of Odisha and is a Brand in itself , whose political manoeuvring  has become legendary and an objective lesson in political assiduousness  . What Mamata Benerjee has been doing since 2011 , when her party displaced the Left Party from power , BJD led by Naveen Patnaik has been doing similarly since 1999 ..BJD came to power sidelining the Congress and has concentrated in managing contact with the public , almost on day to day basis ..Now discussing contemporary  politics ,a brief dissection of the TMC strategy of storming back to power in the 2021 Assembly and 2023 Panchayat elections has a similar resemblance to Biju Janata Dal political astuteness . Maintain mass contact and popularising the Brand Naveen has clicked with the voters. In the 2022 GP elections BJD has swept the polls winning all the 30 ZP President posts and taking over the Samity Chairman of 85% of the posts that was in contest. BJD like the TMC has been a vote guzzler even in the By-Elections with a win ration of 95% . The well-oiled political machinery of the TMC and the BJD have a similar trait, and the party President is the mascot that has not shown any signs fatigue, weariness or lassitude.

The BJD like the TMC is well ahead of its opponents and the upcoming Assembly Elections (if it is held in November or June next year) will be inconsequential as many political pundits have already given their verdict of the BJD winning comfortably. The big question here is will the opposition manage to keep the BJD below the 100 seat mark …