National Approval Ratings: In West Bengal, BJP projected to make huge inroads in comparison to 2014 but Mamata's TMC to reign supreme

The National Approval Ratings, conducted by Republic TV in association with CVoter, is back for its third edition. Less than five months remain for the general elections 2019, and one state which is expected to play a crucial role is West Bengal.

Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is in power in the state, is projected to emerge as the clear winner with 32 seats, which is in line with the projection in November. The BJP is projected to win nine seats and the Congress winning one seat, which is what was projected in the previous edition of the National Approval Ratings.

While the numbers, in comparison to October, looks bleak for BJP, the figures are a positive sign in terms of the larger picture for them. BJP had only two seats when the general elections took place in 2014, hence the jump to nine should be really promising. They are also projected to grow by 13.3 percent in terms of vote-share, further suggesting that they are making inroads in the state.

Though, BJP's numbers are projected to be far less than what their party president Amit Shah had predicted during the Republic Summit 2018. The BJP supremo, in a very confident manner, had said that his party will win a minimum of 23 seats.

As for the TMC, their projected seat-share of 32 seats is two less than what they had managed to win 2014. Though, when compared to the seat-share they were projected to win in the October edition of National Approval Ratings, it is significantly higher.

The Congress party is projected to be the biggest loser in terms of all the political parties in West Bengal. They had won four seats in 2014 with a vote share of 8.3 percent, but this time around, they are projected to only win one seat with a vote share of 8.3%.

There was a stark difference in the two previous editions of the National Approval Ratings when it comes to the seat-share projections in West Bengal. In October, BJP was projected to make huge inroads in the state, winning 16 seats and leaving the ruling TMC party with just 25 seats. Congress was predicted to win just one seat.

But in November, things changed drastically, at least in terms of seat-share. TMC was projected to win 32 seats, eating up seven from the BJP, which is predicted to win 9. Congress would remain on their previous number.