RG Kar Mother On Modi's Stage, Sandeshkhali Still Fresh — Bengal's Women Voted, TMC Is Paying The Price

Last Updated:May 04, 2026, 11:56 IST

Cooch Behar, Malda, Jalpaiguri — Bengal's Bangladesh border belt voted at 94–96%. Women outvoted men. BJP leads every one of these seats.

There is a number from this election that should stop every political analyst in their tracks. In Phase 2 of the West Bengal election, female voter turnout at 92.28% was higher than male turnout at 91.07%. Women, in other words, did not just show up — they showed up more than men. And when you map that against where BJP is leading on counting day, a pattern emerges that is impossible to dismiss as coincidence.

As trends rolled in through Monday morning, BJP was leading in 126 assembly constituencies against TMC’s 73 — and the seats at the very top of that list were the ones where women had queued longest, voted hardest, and, apparently, chosen most deliberately.

Where Did Women Vote Most — And Who Is Leading There?

The numbers tell the story with precision. The highest voter turnout in Phase 1 was recorded in Cooch Behar at 96.2%, followed by Dakshin Dinajpur at 95.44%, Malda at 94.79%, and Jalpaiguri at 94.76%. These are all Bangladesh border districts — and they are also exactly the belt where BJP posted its earliest and most decisive leads on counting morning.

Several constituencies across the state reported higher participation among women voters than among men, a positive shift toward more inclusive electoral participation.

The overlap is not accidental. Women in these border districts have lived for years with the specific anxieties of porous borders — the arrival of strangers, the shifting of demographics, the quiet erosion of safety in their own villages. They voted in historic numbers, and they voted for change.

What Did The RG Kar Case Do to the TMC’s Women Vote?

It shattered it. In August 2024, a 26-year-old postgraduate doctor was raped and murdered inside a locked seminar room of the state-run RG Kar Medical College — a government institution, in broad daylight, in a city that Mamata Banerjee’s government runs.

The case ignited a nationwide outrage. Months of street protests followed. And then, when elections came, BJP did something that went beyond sloganeering.

Nearly a year and a half after the brutal killing, Ratna Debnath — the victim’s mother — agreed to contest on a BJP ticket from Panihati, approached by the party to “bring to light the truth behind the crime." She wasn’t a politician. She was a grieving mother who said, “As days go by, I keep wondering if I will get justice while I am alive. For this, I have joined politics."

And then came the moment that went viral across every screen in Bengal. At a campaign rally in Panihati, PM Modi shared the stage with Ratna Debnath, described her as “our own," and alleged that her daughter was a victim of “jungle raj" under the current government.

As Modi spoke about her daughter, Debnath broke down and wept on stage — and Modi placed his hand on her head in comfort. The video spread instantly. It was not a political advertisement. It was something rawer, more real, and far more damaging to the TMC than any press conference could have been.

Modi told the crowd: “The mother helped her daughter become a doctor. That daughter was taken away from her by TMC. We have made that mother a candidate." The result? Ratna Debnath is leading from Panihati in early trends — a TMC stronghold for over a decade.

What Role Did Sandeshkhali Play?

If RG Kar was the wound that wouldn’t close, Sandeshkhali was the proof that it wasn’t an isolated incident — it was a pattern.

Women in Sandeshkhali came out on the streets with brooms and sticks, alleging atrocities and sexual harassment by local TMC leaders, including absconding TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh and his aides — men who allegedly used their political protection to prey on women in their own community with complete impunity.

Allegations of systemic sexual assault on many women of Sandeshkhali surfaced in mainstream media in early February 2024, with women claiming that FIRs were being denied by police.

Modi at his Panihati rally also referenced Sandeshkhali, saying “BJP has given an opportunity to the victim of Sandeshkhali to lead," drawing a direct line between the two cases — and between a pattern of TMC-shielded violence against women and BJP’s promise of accountability.

Where Exactly Did TMC Go Wrong With Women?

• It told women to stay home. When RG Kar outrage was at its peak, Mamata Banerjee advised women not to step out late at night. Modi directly attacked this, saying: “When the women of Bengal ask for justice, TMC tells them not to step out of their homes." It was a gift to the opposition.

• It protected its own. In Sandeshkhali, the accused were TMC functionaries. The police refused FIRs. The state machinery looked away. Women who had voted TMC for years watched their party protect men who had harmed them.

• It had no answer to RG Kar. TMC faced a unique challenge in countering Ratna Debnath — attacking her directly risks alienating voters who still feel a deep sense of grief over the RG Kar tragedy. So it pivoted to its candidate’s “son of the soil" narrative, while BJP owned the emotional centre of the election.

• It underestimated the border belt. Women in Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Murshidabad — districts where infiltration, land encroachment and shifting demographics are lived realities — turned out in the highest numbers in the state. TMC treated their concerns as BJP propaganda. They responded at the ballot box.

What Does This All Add Up To?

Modi at his rally put it simply: “I am seeing that Bengal’s women power is going to write the new saga of 21st-century Bengal. Every woman of Bengal is saying — we will not tolerate anymore, we will change the TMC government."

On counting day, the numbers suggest he was right. The women of Bengal — from a grieving mother in Panihati to a voter in Cooch Behar who queued at 96% turnout — did not vote for a party. They voted for a reckoning.

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