On Sunday, April 19, 2026, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted extensive search operations at the Ballygunge residence of Shantanu Sinha Biswas, a Deputy Commissioner (Special Branch) of the Kolkata Police, to investigate a suspected money laundering trail linked to an organized extortion syndicate.

Olympic tennis legend Leander Paes on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the West Bengal government, raising concerns over rising migration of youth from the state, even as the political tussle between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) intensified over alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct.

Ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched the ‘Matri Shakti Bharosa Card’, a key welfare promise aimed at women voters in the state. The initiative was unveiled in Kolkata on April 15, 2026, by senior BJP leader Smriti Irani as part of the party’s broader election campaign.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Vinesh Chandel, co-founder and director of political consultancy firm I-PAC, in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the alleged West Bengal coal scam. The arrest comes just days ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, triggering political reactions.

The Supreme Court on Monday said that it cannot allow people whose appeals against exclusion from the voter list are pending to vote in the upcoming West Bengal elections.

 The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday, April 12, 2026, detained West Bengal Assembly candidate Sayem Chowdhury and arrested Indian Secular Front (ISF) member Golam Rabbani in Malda for their alleged involvement in the violent gherao of judicial officials earlier this month. The central agency acted following a Supreme Court directive to investigate the April 1 incident in the Motabhari area, where a mob protesting the deletion of names from the electoral roll held seven judicial officers hostage for over eight hours. The suspects were apprehended after video analysis placed them at the scene of the agitation, which the apex court described as a “complete failure” of the state’s law and order machinery.