Mamata Banerjee Claims BJP Will Sacrifice Gujarat to Win Bengal in 2026 Election

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (File).

Kolkata:

The Bharatiya Janata Party is willing to sacrifice Gujarat to secure a victory in Bengal, according to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who launched a comprehensive critique against her political rivals on Tuesday. She accused the BJP of engaging in fraudulent practices to win elections, including the recent landslide victory in Bihar.

During her address, the Bengal Chief Minister extensively commented on the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists scheduled before the upcoming elections in Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, and Kerala.

The Trinamool Congress leader also criticized the Rs 10,000 stipend for Bihar women voters that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance offered shortly before the election.

"I am making this prediction... the BJP is going to be defeated in Gujarat (Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state). To win Bengal they will lose Gujarat," she declared during a large-scale anti-SIR protest march.

The BJP has maintained control of Gujarat since 1990, when the Congress held power nationally, and decisively defeated its opponents in 2022 by securing 156 of the state's 182 seats with nearly 50 percent of the vote share.

In Bengal, Banerjee has led the Trinamool to three consecutive victories – the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and the 2021 Assembly elections – against the BJP. However, this upcoming contest may prove her most challenging yet, with Prime Minister Modi's party energized by dominant victories in Delhi and Bihar this year.

Following their Bihar triumph, the BJP has quickly pivoted to a new strategy for defeating Banerjee – targeting the Trinamool's grassroots supporters to undermine its leadership.

The Trinamool and other opposition parties have identified the voter list revision as part of the BJP's electoral strategy, alleging that it removes voters from marginalized and oppressed communities who typically support the opposition under the pretext of eliminating 'infiltrators'.

"Why is the SIR being carried out so hurriedly? Why is the SIR being carried out before elections? Take three years and we will help you..." Banerjee stated, echoing concerns raised by other parties including the Congress.

"If there really have been illegal immigrants staying in border districts all this time, then I want to ask who is responsible for guarding the international border? Airports and customs are all under control of the central government," she pointed out, adding, "But till I am here, I will not allow them to throw you out."

Banerjee also criticized the Election Commission, which has faced significant criticism from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his PowerPoint presentations, referring to it as the 'BJP Commission'.

Addressing the recent deaths of booth-level officers, some by suicide over the past week, she questioned the necessity of expediting voter re-verification procedures months before an election.

"And three BLOs (booth-level officers) died because of lack of proper training under SIR. The lady BLO who committed suicide in Noida (in Uttar Pradesh) left a note blaming the EC."

Similar reports of stress-related BLO deaths have emerged from other states, including Gujarat.

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