Political sparring intensified in West Bengal on Tuesday as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Union home minister Amit Shah exchanged sharp accusations, signalling an early escalation of the campaign for the 2026 assembly elections.
Amit Shah, on a three-day visit to the state to kick off the BJP’s poll outreach, accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of fostering an atmosphere of “fear, corruption and misgovernance”. He alleged that corruption had stalled development and claimed that welfare schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had fallen victim to local “toll syndicates”. Shah also accused the Banerjee government of facilitating illegal infiltration from Bangladesh, warning that it had “dangerously altered” the state’s demography.
“Fear and corruption have become West Bengal’s identity for the last 14 years,” Shah said, urging voters to “give BJP a chance” and promising a revival of Bengal’s heritage and culture if the party comes to power after April 2026.
Hitting back, Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of politicising the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, calling it a “huge scam” allegedly being conducted using artificial intelligence. She reiterated her claim that several people, including booth-level officers, had died by suicide during the process, and said citizens were being harassed ahead of elections.
Shah further sharpened his attack by accusing the state government of obstructing border fencing along the India–Bangladesh frontier and enabling illegal immigration. He claimed repeated communications with the state administration on the issue had yielded little response.
Banerjee rejected these allegations, invoking characters from the Mahabharat to criticise BJP leaders and asserting that her government had cooperated in providing land for border infrastructure projects in areas such as Petrapol and Andal. Addressing a public meeting, she highlighted development work undertaken over the past 14 years and accused the BJP of creating fear in the run-up to the polls.