Do the simple math and the idea of wave sinks. In 2021 the BJP won 77 seats to the TMC’s 213 and then leaked support. Twelve of those 77 MLAs defected back to the Trinamool, including Adhikari’s Haldia lieutenant Tapasi Mondal. In 2024 the BJP fell to 12 Lok Sabha seats from 18, while the TMC climbed to 29 from 22. No tide. Yet its only fresh South Bengal wins were Kanthi, taken by Suvendu’s brother Soumendu, and Tamluk, both Adhikari turf, even as it lost ground across Jangalmahal. When the “wave” ran backwards, only Adhikari’s ground delivered. That is not a wave. It is a machine.
