Asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) would form a government in West Bengal after the 2026 Assembly election, Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (June 1, 2025) said that the time of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s rule was coming to an end.
“Didi (Mamata Banerjee), your rule has come to an end. In 2026, Bharatiya Janata Party will form the government. Didi, I dare you to hold elections without violence and rigging, and the people of Bengal will ensure that you lose your deposit,” he said.
Mr. Shah, who was in Kolkata on a two-day visit to the State, addressed the Vijay Sankalp Karyakarta Sammelan at Netaji Indoor Stadium, where the entire top leadership of West Bengal BJP were present. The visit comes at a time when the saffron party was holding organisational elections, and there was no word yet on who would be the new West Bengal BJP president leading the party in the 2026 Assembly polls.
The Home Minister’s visit comes three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Alipurduar in West Bengal, where his remarks on Operation Sindoor triggered a war of words with Ms. Banerjee.
Like the Prime Minister, the Home Minister also touched upon the Murshidabad riots and described the violence as “State-sponsored”. “I have no hesitation in saying that the riots in Murshidabad were State-sponsored,” he said, adding that while the Ministry of Home Affairs had insisted on deploying Central forces, the State government was not keen on it.
“The MHA kept on insisting about the deployment of BSF during the Murshidabad riots, but the TMC government didn’t allow it to happen so that the violence could continue. If BSF personnel had been deployed, Hindus would have been protected. It was only after BJP workers approached the High Court that the BSF was finally sent in,” he alleged
Three persons had died and hundreds were left homeless at Murshidabad in the communal violence that erupted on April 11 and April 12 over protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act.
During his speech, the Home Minister also spoke about the school recruitment scam and infiltration from across the border. “The elections in Bengal do not decide the fate of the State only, but are associated with national security. This is because Mamata Banerjee has allowed our borders to remain open for Bangladeshis. Infiltration is going on with her blessings,” he said.
Of the 4,096.7 km border between India and Bangladesh, about 3,232.2 km has been fenced; a large part of the unfenced border lies in West Bengal.
Mr. Shah also accused the Trinamool Congress chairperson of opposing “Operation Sindoor” and appealed to the “women of Bengal to explain the value of sindoor (vermilion) to those who are against Operation Sindoor, in the upcoming (Assembly) election”.
The Home Minister also added that that Ms. Banerjee had even Opposed Sindoor to “appease the Muslim vote bank”. “If Didi had felt this much pain when the people of Bengal were being killed in Pahalgam, it would have been understandable, but she said nothing at that time. Now, after PM Modi ji carried out Operation Sindoor, she opposed it with a petty political statement,” he said.
Ms. Banerjee had earlier expressed support for India’s response to the Phalagam terror attack, stating that she stood “shoulder-to-shoulder” with the Union government in the fight against terrorism. On May 29, after the Prime Minister addressed the gathering in Kolkata, she accused him of politicising Operation Sindoor and questioned the timing of Mr. Modi’s political remarks when all-party delegations were on missions across the world.
In response to Mr. Shah’s remarks, the Trinamool Congress leadership, at a press conference, reminded the Home Minister that the elections were held by the Election Commission and not the State government.
“Are you admitting that free and fair elections aren’t possible even under your watch? Don’t pass the buck, violence during elections is a FAILURE of the Centre, not the State! “ the party said in a post on social media.
