On August 17, the Bharatiya Janata Party Government in West Bengal came out with full page advertisements in leading national dailies titled ‘100 days of Bhorosha — 8 pillars for Bikosito Poschimbongo (100 days of trust: 8 pillars for a developed West Bengal).

The BJP fought the West Bengal Assembly elections 2026 on the promise of bringing in ‘bhorosa’ (trust) and the assurance that they will drive ‘bhoy ‘(fear) out. In the advertisement, the eight pillars of trust refer to industrialisation, good governance, law and order, national security, health, education, and empowerment of people among others.

One of the biggest challenges of the West Bengal government is to bring in big industrial capital in the State, something which the Trinamool Congress government had miserably failed to do. In the past 100 days, the Suvendu Adhikari government has announced a single window clearance for investment over ₹100 crore and promised to bring in a new industrial policy. The BJP government claims that it has received investment proposals of ₹54,000 crores and there have been multiple events where the Chief Minister has been laying the foundation stone of industrial units.

However, a closer look at these investment proposals and the sites where these investments are promised point out that similar promises have been made by the previous Trinamool Congress government by the same industry houses. While there is some enthusiasm among the industrialists over change of regime, for real investment to flow in, the BJP government will have to do something path-breaking particularly when West Bengal has lost decades to States in the south and west of the country as far as attracting private investment is concerned. Or else, these foundation stone laying will only become ‘photo-ops’ as it happened in the previous regime.

The BJP had promised big on improving law and order situation in the State and ensuring safety and security of women. The past hundred days have witnessed the arrest of hundreds of local Trinamool Congress leaders, including former MLAs and Ministers and many of them being subjected to mob violence and attacked with eggs.

The prevailing political sentiment on the ground is that if the Trinamool leaders can warm up to the BJP, they can avoid the arrests and public humiliation. This has led to something bigger than a law-and-order challenge and is being referred as ‘ Trinamoolification of the BJP” by none other than the BJP’s top State leadership. With a majority of Lok Sabha MPs and elected MLAs of Trinamool Congress deciding to part ways from Mamata Banerjee and holding frequent meetings with the State’s Chief Minister, the BJP seems to embrace the people and policies that it stood against 100 days ago.

The incidents of crime against women, political murders have not stopped. However, the police seem to be more proactive and, in some cases, not shying away from ‘encounter’, something that was not common in the previous regime.

Another area of governance that has become a talking point in the past 100 days is that the Suvendu Adhikari government has decided to engage in selection of beneficiaries for social welfare schemes and charted a different course for distributing the benefits universally, which was a hallmark of Mamata Banerjee government.

One of the election promises of the BJP was to double the cash incentives to women from ₹1,500 per month to ₹3,000 per month, once it is elected to power. While the BJP leadership said that the promise was for all women, the number of beneficiaries of cash incentives have dropped from 2.20 crore in the Mamata Banerjee government to 1.19 crore in the Suvendu Adhikari government. The BJP government now claims that only the deserving should get the benefits.

The BJP government is also trying to restrict social benefits like distribution of food grains under public distribution system, benefits of social welfare schemes and even caste certificates to the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The government has announced it is on the verge of rolling out Uniform Civil Code and has cracked down on use of loudspeakers on religious places including mosques and has started a survey of madrasahs. The return of exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin to Kolkata after 19 years was highlighted as a major success story for the BJP government in West Bengal.

With Opposition in shambles in West Bengal, the BJP government in the State enjoying the full support of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, the political situation seems to be conducive to make structural reforms and usher in growth. A major overhaul is required in the health, education and overall infrastructure of the State.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has recently at a public event claimed that when his government completes a year and people rate him, he wants to secure not anything less than 90% marks. Mr. Adhikari, who featured in the newspaper advertisement along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appears to be in a hurry to change the policies of the previous government and set up his own model of governance, often drawing inspiration from Uttar Pradesh on encounters and use of bulldozers. The BJP government in West Bengal has to usher in real ‘bhorosa (trust)’ not only by driving the ‘bhoy’ (fear) of misrule of the previous government out but by taking everyone along. In the past 100 days the new regime has been able to ensure support of the majority of the Opposition leaders, but the challenge will be to build on the support of the majority of people who had voted the government to power earlier this year.

Published - August 19, 2026 12:18 pm IST