Bengal, a region split between India and Bangladesh, is seeing a renewed shift toward religion in politics. Multiple reports say religious and ethnic divisions are becoming more prominent, with parties and candidates seeking support by appealing to religious sentiment. On the Bangladesh side, the February parliamentary election is described as a significant moment for Islamist politics. Jamaat-e-Islami is reported to win close to one third of the national vote, marking its strongest performance so far. On the Indian side, particularly in West Bengal, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is reported to have made major gains. One outlet notes BJP’s vote share rising from about 10% in 2016 to nearly 46% in the most recent election. Under West Bengal’s “first past the post” system, this translated into BJP winning 207 of 294 seats in the state assembly. The reports also characterize Bengal as historically associated with secular traditions, contrasting with the current trend of religion playing a larger role in electoral politics on both sides of the border.