Kolkata: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday took her political attack to the doorstep of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing him of indulging in “dynasty politics”, a refrain that the BJP has consistently levelled against her and her party.
The West Bengal Chief Minister also targeted the Election Commission of India, albeit without directly naming the poll panel, and threatened to “expose the undemocratic practices” which the body, she alleged, was carrying out across India by means of top bureaucrats and police officers who are “in the family” of the commission members.
“Amit babu, you accuse us of running ‘dynasty politics’, but what about your son who presides over an international cricket board where thousands and lakhs of crores of rupees are involved. Such money is not involved in politics. Is that not a dynasty? Do you call it socialism?” Banerjee questioned, in her apparent reference to the Union Home Minister.
While she was alluding to Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah who is the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the BJP charges her with running dynasty politics because of her nephew, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, who is considered number 2 in the party.
Addressing a rally in Kolkata to mark the foundation day of the Trinamool Chatra Parishad, the party’s students’ wing, the CM launched a fresh salvo against the ECI, against which the TMC leadership has been vociferously critical for launching the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ahead of the upcoming polls in various states, including Bihar and Bengal.
Earlier, Banerjee had named the poll panel as the ‘lollipop’ of the BJP-led government.
“The lollipop government is threatening our BDOs, SDOs, DMs and police with retrenchment or jail terms. But the commission’s tenure is no more than three months during the elections. It’s the state government that stays.
“We won’t tolerate this muscle flexing. We too have your Pandora’s box. We will expose your corruption if you push us… Listen, lollipop babu, we know which of your family members are IAS and IPS officers in different states and through whom you are wielding this lollipop mechanism for the BJP,” Banerjee thundered.
Banerjee said she would not let anyone take away people’s voting rights, alleging that the BJP was unleashing “linguistic terror” on Bengalis across the country.
She claimed that the BJP has deployed over 500 teams from across the country in West Bengal to conduct surveys, aimed at deleting names of voters from the electoral rolls.
“Do not give your details if anyone comes to your house for surveys. They will use that data to delete your name from the voters’ list. Instead, check directly with the polling centres and ensure your Aadhaar cards are ready, because the Centre has made it compulsory,” she told her supporters at the rally.
Alleging that the EC’s SIR exercise was an attempt to implement NRC through the back door, she said, “I respect the office of the EC, but you know, lollipops only suit children. If adults start taking lollipops on behalf of one party, it does not look good.
“Try how hard you may to conspire against us, you’ll be doomed to fail,” the CM said.
Banerjee, the TMC chairperson, alleged that the BJP is insulting Bengalis by branding poor migrant workers from the state as “Bangladeshis”.
“You torture poor people by calling them Bangladeshis. But to me, poor people are my biggest strength. I don’t believe in caste or creed, I believe in humanity,” she said.
“Recently, a migrant worker from Habra (in West Bengal) was killed in Maharashtra, but these people (BJP) never raise their voice over such atrocities,” she said.
Banerjee alleged that the BJP was trying to make people forget the role played by Bengalis during the freedom movement. “If there is no Bengali language, then in which language were the national anthem and national song written? They want people to forget the historical role played by Bengalis. Now they are even funding movies to defame Bengal and insult our history,” she alleged.
Their predecessors were agents of the British who gave undertakings to get out of jails, she claimed.
With months left for the assembly elections in the state, due in the first half of 2026, Banerjee has been consistently hitting the road, alleging that Bengali-speaking migrant workers were being harassed in BJP-ruled states.
Taking on the Centre, the CM alleged that funds for key welfare schemes had been withheld out of “political jealousy”.
“For four to five consecutive years, West Bengal was number one in providing 100 days’ work, building houses for the poor and constructing rural roads. Out of jealousy, they have stopped our funds, and now they want to impose the NRC to snatch people’s voting rights. But as long as I am alive, I won’t allow them to do that,” she said.
The TMC boss also called the BJP-led government “selfish giants with high-loaded virus” who were acting out of “Himalayan incompetence”.
Banerjee also alleged that central agencies have been weaponised by the BJP to target opposition parties.
“Earlier, no government used central agencies like this before elections,” she claimed.
Banerjee also accused the CPI(M) of “joining hands” with the BJP to fight her.
“The CPI(M) government in Kerala is claiming that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose fled the country in fear of the British. We condemn this,” she said.
She apologised for the delay in government recruitment drives and starting the admission process in colleges, but blamed it on litigation.
