Lionel Messi The Real Dhurandhar! BJP’s Win In West Bengal Elections Triggers Meme Fest As TMC Gets Bashed For Unsuccessful GOAT India Tour Visit In Kolkata

The political landscape of West Bengal has witnessed a seismic shift with counting trends for the Assembly Elections indicating a historic breakthrough for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, May 4. The BJP is crossing the halfway mark with leads in more than 170 seats and looks set to end the 15-year rule of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC). But as the “lotus” blooms across the state, social media has been abuzz with a strange and stingy trend linking the political “change of guard” with none other than football legend Lionel Messi.

The ‘Messi Jinx’: A Socio-Political Coincidence?

Netizens and political analysts are pointing toward a fascinating anecdotal pattern dubbed the “Messi Effect.”

• 2011: Messi first visited Kolkata for an international friendly. That same year, Mamata Banerjee rose to power, ending the 34-year rule of the Left Front.
• 2025-2026: Messi returned to Kolkata in December 2025 as part of his GOAT India Tour. Just months later, the TMC appears to be facing a similar exit from power.

Memes are flooding in on X (formerly Twitter) with captions such as “Messi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai”, insinuating that the Argentine maestro is a harbinger of political transformation every time he touches down in the City of Joy.

Meme Fest: TMC Bashed for ‘GOAT Tour’ Fiasco

Much of the “bashing” online is down to the mismanagement of Messi’s visit to the Salt Lake Stadium in late 2025. What was meant to be a crowning achievement for the TMC government turned into a “global embarrassment.”

• The VIP Hijack: Messi’s appearance lasted barely 20 minutes and fans were outraged. Footage showed the World Cup winner soaking up selfies with local politicians and “VIPs” while thousands of fans who paid upwards of ₹5,000 in the stands were left without a clear glimpse.
• The Chaos: The event ended in vandalism, with angry supporters smashing chairs and tearing down banners. Organiser Satadru Datta was detained in the fallout.

Those same fans are using the election results to settle the score today. Memes are circulating showing Messi “laughing” at the election figures with captions suggesting the “disrespect” shown by local leaders to the emotional fans and the football icon was the turning point for public opinion.

BJP’s Breakthrough In West Bengal

The data provides the gravity, while the memes provide the humour. The BJP’s inroads into traditional TMC strongholds like Presidency and Medinipur is a sign of a massive change in the electorate. Supporters are calling the victory a “masterclass” in political manoeuvring.While the last of the certificates are being put together, the story in Bengal is self-evident: the people have spoken and spoken loudly, in a way that even the “GOAT” would find hard to ignore, between a failed football tour and a high-stakes election.

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