As West Bengal gears up for the 2026 assembly elections, the battle between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is intensifying. Recently, TMC attempted to revive its old “outsider” rhetoric against the BJP, a strategy that worked in 2021. However, this time, the saffron party is not willing to let the narrative go unchallenged.
TMC released a social media creative branding BJP as an “outsider” and predicting its defeat in 2026. This was met with a strong counterattack from the Bengal BJP, which called out TMC’s “arrogance.” The BJP, having learned from past mistakes, responded in Bengali first, ensuring that the message resonates with the people of the state.
In the 2021 elections, the TMC successfully spread misinformation, instilling fear among Bengalis that a BJP government would impose Hindi as the primary language, take away jobs from locals, and even change the food culture of the state. This fear psychosis resulted in BJP falling short of its target of 200 seats, as many supporters were swayed by these baseless claims.
However, the political climate has changed since then. BJP leaders have taken a more aggressive stance against TMC’s divisive politics. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya accused the TMC of waging war on linguistic minorities and misleading voters to retain power. He also highlighted BJP’s efforts to remove illegal Rohingya voters from the electoral rolls, a move that has rattled the ruling party.
Meanwhile, TMC continues to cry foul over the Centre’s alleged withholding of funds. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly claimed that the Modi government owes Bengal over Rs 1 lakh crore under various schemes. However, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman exposed the rampant corruption in TMC-ruled Bengal, calling it “institutionalized corruption.” She pointed to widespread scams in MGNREGA and PM Awas Yojana, where central funds were looted by TMC functionaries.
With elections just a year away, BJP is determined to ensure that TMC’s lies and fear-mongering do not work again. This time, the battle is not just about politics but about exposing corruption, ending appeasement, and restoring governance in West Bengal.
