TMC leaders rejected Amit Shah’s claim of a two-thirds BJP majority in Bengal in 2026, calling it baseless.
Bratya Basu said the BJP will not even touch 50 seats and accused Shah of spreading falsehoods.
TMC hit back on women’s safety and development claims, accusing the BJP of hypocrisy and misinformation.
TMC Dismisses Shah’s 2026 Bengal Polls Claim
Trinamool Congress says BJP won’t cross 50 seats, calls Amit Shah’s remarks false and misleading.
Summary
On Tuesday, the Trinamool Congress retaliated against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing him of spreading falsehoods and making baseless promises of winning a two-thirds majority in the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2026.
Senior TMC politician and state education minister Bratya Basu told reporters that the BJP will not even reach the 50-seat threshold in the polls and that Shah's comments were based on false claims.
"Shah will keep coming and going like a tourist. Such visits will serve no purpose," Basu said on the sidelines of a programme.
"The BJP will not even cross the 50-mark in the assembly polls and suffer a humiliating defeat," Basu claimed.
Addressing a press conference here, Shah claimed that the BJP would form the next government in the state with a "two-thirds majority in 2026".
"We will not only identify infiltrators, but we'll also drive them out. Bengal will have a new BJP government after April 15, 2026, as people have made up their minds," he said.
Shah also took a dig at the Trinamool Congress government on the issue of women's safety.
"It has been officially stated that women should not step out of their homes after 7 pm. What era are we living in? Are we living in the Mughal period?" he said.
"Mamata ji, this is a free India. Ensuring that women can step out safely whenever they choose is a constitutional right. Your government has failed to provide this basic security," he added.
Criticising Shah over his comments on women's safety in the state, senior TMC leader and minister Sashi Panja urged the Union home minister to visit Bengal during the festive season, like Durga Puja and Christmas, when thousands of women move about freely and participate in festivities.
"In case a stray incident happens, our administration takes prompt action to bring the culprits to book. Instead, the rapists of Bilkis Bano are garlanded by your party activists. Your party shields Kuldeep Sengar and Brij Bhusan, who were accused of committing atrocities. Amitji should not lecture on women's security," she said.
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Panja accused Shah and his party at the Centre of obstructing the Aparajita Bill's passage, which would have guaranteed rapists exemplary punishment upon conviction.
Regarding Shah's assertions regarding Bengal's industrial downturn, Panja stated that since 2011, the state has received investments totalling Rs 13.8 lakh crore.
"Bengal occupies the second berth in the MSME sector as per the figures available with the Centre, and he is peddling falsehood about the industrial growth of Bengal," she said.
TMC spokesperson Jay Prakash Majumdar also dismissed Shah's assertion that the BJP does not engage in temple-based polarising politics.
"Everyone knows the BJP campaigned on temple-masjid politics in both the 2019 and 2024 elections. This brand of politics will again be rejected by the people of Bengal," Majumdar said.
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