One image defined Mamata Banerjee’s rise to power. Injured and wheelchair-bound during the 2021 election campaign, she raised a clenched fist before thousands of supporters and declared herself a Royal Bengal Tiger. It captured the carefully crafted paradox that defined her politics: fierce enough to take on formidable opponents, yet familiar enough to remain simply “Didi”, Bengal’s elder sister. That image helped deliver three consecutive electoral victories. By 2026, however, it was no longer enough to sustain her government.