Page 3 - Mamata Banerjee

As the left fades from Bengal's landscape, BJP makes a fervent pitch

In West Bengal, the Left is in a dead heat with the Congress for the wooden spoon; Maoism in the tribal heartland has been entombed; and in Kerala, the Left fights double incumbency

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee alleges 'politicisation' of SC proceedings

ED tells Supreme Court it is not suggesting constitutional breakdown in West Bengal, as Mamata Banerjee raises concerns over politicisation of proceedings during elections

From Singur to welfare: How West Bengal's poll issues evolved since 2006

From industrialisation and land protests to welfare, jobs and corruption, West Bengal's election issues have layered over two decades shaping the 2026 political contest

Bengal SIR: Logical discrepancy not recognised term under EC, says Mamata

TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that "logical discrepancy" under the SIR exercise is not an officially recognised term under the Election Commission framework and was selectively applied in West Bengal, unlike Bihar, to benefit the BJP. Addressing a public rally at Pingla in Paschim Medinipur district, she said she has not seen a "dirty party" like the BJP. The West Bengal chief minister, urging people to vote against the BJP, said, "The BJP has snatched everything from you... Voting against it would be your only way to take revenge." The BJP is holding rallies at places that have direct railway connectivity with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar so that they can bring in people from those states to fill up the venues, she alleged. Elections to the 294-member assembly will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, and the votes will be counted on May 4.

In Bengal's Murshidabad, roll deletions trigger 'decitizenisation' fears

Even as CM Mamata Banerjee has vowed to fight to restore the electors' rights, a sense of abandonment is surfacing among those who have been disenfranchised

Mamata Banerjee alleges BJP of threatening TMC candidates for support

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday alleged that the BJP was threatening TMC candidates, including state ministers, seeking their support if the saffron party falls short of the majority mark after the assembly elections. She also alleged that the BJP government at the Centre wants to carry out a delimitation exercise to trifurcate West Bengal, and that parts of the state could be merged with Bihar or Odisha, and it would result in hardships for the Bengalis living in those areas. Addressing poll rallies at Asansol in Paschim Bardhaman, Chhatna and Onda in Bankura district and Khandagosh in Purba Bardhaman, Banerjee said, "The BJP is threatening TMC candidates, including state ministers, seeking their support if it falls short of the majority mark after the assembly elections." The majority mark in the West Bengal assembly is 148. The BJP won 77 seats in the 2021 polls. "The BJP is planning to bring in a delimitation bill to divide West Bengal into three parts. It

SIR country's biggest recent scam, says Mamata at Bengal poll rally

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday alleged that the BJP bribes voters before elections, and called the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls the "country's biggest scam" in recent times. Addressing a rally at Khandaghosh in Purba Bardhaman district, Banerjee claimed that the BJP would "snatch everything" from the people of West Bengal if it came to power in the state. "The BJP bribes voters before the elections. But they forget their promises soon after the polling is over. That was seen in the Bihar elections," Banerjee said. The TMC chief further alleged that the BJP would try to manipulate the polling process to win the election and urged the people to remain alert and keep a tab on the voting machines. "Be alert about the voting machines. The BJP has planned slow voting and slow counting. Foil all their plans," Banerjee said. "The SIR is the biggest scam the country has seen in recent times," she said, further predicting that the BJP government

BJP, with EC's help, tried to invalidate my Bhabanipur nomination: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday claimed that the BJP, with the help of the Election Commission, tried to get her candidature from Bhabanipur seat in south Kolkata cancelled by attempting to file false cases against her, but the bid was foiled by TMC workers and the public. Banerjee, while addressing an election rally at Keshiyari in Paschim Medinipur district, accused the BJP of "forcefully" deleting the names of 90 lakh voters from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). "The BJP, with the EC's help, tried to invalidate my candidature from Bhabanipur by trying to file false cases against me, but we foiled their game plan," Banerjee, who is contesting against Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari to retain her seat, said without elaborating further. She accused the BJP of "plotting to forcefully capture votes through fraudulent means as they don't have the guts to fight and win the elections democratically". "This is why they are ...

BJP govt in West Bengal will speed up CAA, infiltrators must leave: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday sharpened the BJP's pitch on infiltration and welfare in poll-bound West Bengal and promised that the process of granting citizenship to Matua and Namasudra refugee families will speed up once the party comes to power. Addressing a rally at Katwa in Purba Bardhaman district, Modi said the BJP had brought in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act to grant citizenship to refugees and accused the ruling Trinamool Congress of trying to spread fear among them. "I want to tell the Matua and Namasudra refugee families that they are under the protection of the country's Constitution. Modi enacted the CAA law so that Matua, Namasudra, and all refugees get citizenship," he said. The PM also said, "After the BJP government is formed, the process of granting citizenship under CAA will be accelerated for all eligible applicants." The remarks are significant in a state where the Matua community, spread across several districts of south Bengal, is seen as an ...

PM Modi attacks TMC over lawlessness, alleges infiltration in Bengal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked the ruling TMC over alleged lawlessness and accused the ruling party of encouraging infiltration and unleashing 'maha jungleraj'. Addressing an election rally here in Birbhum district, he alleged the Trinamool Congress' slogan of 'Maa-Mati-Manush' (mother, land, people) has become nothing more than rhetoric. "Cottage industry has been declining in West Bengal, while the TMC has turned making crude bombs into a cottage industry," Modi said. The Bogtui carnage of 2022, in which around 10 women and children were burnt alive in the district, bears testimony to the TMC's 'maha jungle raj', the Prime Minister asserted. "Land grabbing by infiltrators under the TMC regime has reached dangerous proportions. Infiltrators are usurping the jobs of locals by accepting contract work for less money. They will be deported and their facilitators jailed after the BJP comes to power in Bengal," he said. Modi charged the TMC with insulting adivasis,

How deletion of over 9 million voters out of Bengal list is a blow to TMC

With over 9 million names removed after SIR, West Bengal's voter list has triggered a political flashpoint, raising questions over the impact on TMC's core support base

PM Modi appeals to voters to oust 'nirmam' TMC govt from West Bengal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday slammed the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal for its alleged misrule and appealed to voters to oust the TMC from power in the upcoming assembly polls. Addressing a gathering in Haldia, the backyard of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Modi said that the ruling dispensation in the state was "pulling Bengal back". "The country is walking on the path of progress, while TMC's 'nirmam sarkar' is pulling Bengal back. To usher in 'Viksit Bengal', it's essential that the party is removed from power," he claimed. He also alleged that the "TMC cheated Bengal's youth on two counts -- destroyed the private sector and looted government posts for money". "Investment does not come in an atmosphere of fear, but in a climate of trust that the BJP will bring in Bengal," Modi said at the industrial hub. He accused the TMC of following a "religion-based reservation policy to secure its vote bank". "People's huge attendance at Haldia rally despite

BJP deleted over 9 mn names during SIR to grab power in West Bengal: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the BJP of deleting names of over 90 lakh people from the voter lists to grab power in the state and asserted that her party will win the upcoming elections. Addressing a public rally at Minakhan in North 24 Parganas, the TMC supremo said the ruling party would move a court to ensure that all those deleted from the electoral rolls are reinstated. "You deleted names of over 90 lakh people to grab power in Bengal, but we will win," she said while attacking the BJP over the Special Intensive Revision exercise in the state. Her comments came after nearly 91 lakh voters' names were deleted from the electoral rolls following the completion of the SIR exercise in the state. The TMC supremo also alleged, "People are being tortured in BJP-ruled states for speaking in Bengali. It terms Bengali as a foreign language, and described Bengali-speaking people as infiltrators.

RG Kar victim's mother enters West Bengal polls, vows to defeat Mamata

Declaring the Chief Minister as her primary adversary, Debnath stated that the Chief Minister failed to save her daughter from the horrific crime at the RG Kar Medical College and hospital

We will move court again to resist voter deletions, says CM Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at the BJP and the Election Commission over voter deletions during the SIR exercise and said her party will move a court again to resist the removal of electors from the rolls. Her comments came after nearly 91 lakh voters' names were deleted from the electoral rolls following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision in the state. "You will not be able to defeat the TMC by deleting names. We will move a court again to resist the exclusion of names," Banerjee said while attacking her principal challenger BJP over the roll revision exercise. Banerjee had in February argued in the Supreme Court as she sought an intervention in the SIR process. The EC figures, which pushed the total deletion to over 90.83 lakh names from the original voter base of 7.66 crore in October 2025, showed that the proportion of removal of electors now remains at over 11.85 per cent. Addressing a poll rally at Arambagh in Hooghly district

SC flags high exclusion in Bengal voter roll revision, denies relief

Top court notes high rejection rates in SIR exercise, declines interim relief on appeals, and asks appellate tribunals to frame procedures for handling cases uniformly

Mamata demands PM's resignation over silence on Pak's 'Kolkata threat'

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not raise Pakistan's threat to attack Kolkata, during his poll rallies in West Bengal a day earlier. "You (PM) target Bengal during election rallies; but when Pakistan talks of attacking Bengal, you do not utter a word. You should resign," she said at a poll rally here in Nadia district. "Why did the prime minister not raise the issue during his rally in Bengal? When Pakistan's defence minister says they will attack Kolkata, why didn't the prime minister say that 'we will take strong action'?" she posed a day after Modi addressed a poll rally in West Bengal's Cooch Behar. "Just like we do not accept any threat to the country, we will also not take the threat to Kolkata lying down," she said. Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday warned India that it would respond with a strike in Kolkata to any "future misadventures". "If India tries to stage any false flag operation this

Malda gherao reflects 'TMC's maha jungleraj', says PM Modi in Cooch Behar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made the Malda gherao of judicial officers the fulcrum of the BJP's campaign on lawlessness in West Bengal, accusing the TMC government of running a "maha jungleraj" and pitching the 2026 assembly polls as a straight contest between the "bhay" spread by the ruling party and the BJP's "bharosa". Addressing his first election rally in Cooch Behar in north Bengal after the poll schedule was announced, Modi used the Malda incident to sharpen the BJP's twin campaign planks of "poor law and order" and alleged demographic change, besides the issues of safety of women and infiltration from Bangladesh to attack the TMC. "Just a few days ago, the entire nation witnessed judicial officers being held hostage in Malda. What kind of government is this, where judges and constitutional procedures are not safe? We cannot expect such a government to keep the people of Bengal safe," Modi said. The Prime Minister was referring to Wednesday night's incident in ...

Mamata Banerjee blames AIMIM, ISF for gherao of judicial officers in Malda

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday blamed AIMIM and ISF for the gherao of judicial officers in Malda district and accused the Congress and the BJP of instigation. Stating that the mastermind behind Wednesday's gherao of the judicial officers for several hours in Malda district's Mothabari was arrested by the state's CID, Banerjee claimed that this police organisation is still under her control and not of the Election Commission. "The BJP loaned him (the accused) from the AIMIM and brought him here," she alleged, while addressing an election rally at Harirampur in Dakshin Dinajpur district. "ISF is with them; Congress and BJP have also provided instigation," the Trinamool Congress chief alleged, stating that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested the main accused, advocate Mofakkarul Islam, from Bagdogra airport when he was trying to flee. "It is they who engineered the violence in Malda's Mothabari," she said. Alleging that goons are being brought i

Mamata Banerjee vows to drive BJP out of Bengal first, then Delhi

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday vowed to drive the BJP out of the state first and then from Delhi, while alleging that the Election Commission is running the administration despite an elected government. "It is my promise, I will drive out the BJP first from Bengal and then from Delhi," the firebrand TMC leader said. Addressing an election rally here, she condemned Wednesday's gherao and attack on seven judicial officers in Malda, saying the central agencies, either the CBI or the NIA, will now take action on the Supreme Court's orders. "One should not indulge in such activities before elections. The whole state has been disgraced because of this incident," Banerjee said, adding she favours peace and takes along people of all communities. She accused the poll body of acting at the BJP's behest, alleging development work in the state has stalled. "The EC has doomed Bengal at the behest of the BJP; development work has stopped in the state," Banerjee, who has