With West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 due soon, all political parties have jumped into campaigning. The BJP is also holding rallies and processions across the state with frequent visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. According to sources, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Bengal again this month. This raises the question, has BJP’s top leadership lost confidence in the Bengal brigade? Is that why Amit Shah is personally visiting Bengal so frequently ahead of the elections?
Amit Shah visited Kolkata on January 30-31. That evening he met state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, and MP Sukanta Majumdar. The following day, he held a workers’ conference in Barrackpore. Now, Shah is visiting Bengal again in less than a month. He will reportedly be on a two-day visit to Bengal on February 18. However, as per party sources, Shah will not hold any public meetings during that time due to the higher secondary examinations in the state. Rather, he will reportedly hold a meeting with the party’s Bengal brigade to discuss the 2026 election strategy.
Nitin Nabin’s instruction to party leaders ahead of Bengal Elections
As soon as 2026 began, both the ruling and opposition camps have jumped into action, focusing on the assembly elections. Public meetings and public outreach programs of political parties are being held almost daily in various parts of the state. The saffron brigade has also increased its activity with the aim of grabbing power from the ruling Trinamool Congress in Bengal. BJP national president Nitin Nabin held a meeting with BJP MPs from Bengal in Delhi on Wednesday, February 4. In the meeting, he instructed party leaders that in election-bound Bengal, BJP leaders should not only be on the stage but also take to the streets. Saffron party leaders and workers must reach out to the people, he suggested. The news of Shah’s return visit to Bengal, which followed this meeting, is being considered as highly significant by political observers.
‘If you don’t support corruption, don’t give tickets to 23 people,’: Amit Shah’s challenge to Mamata
“I am issuing a challenge: if you do not support corruption, then do not give tickets to these 23 people. Only then will it be clear that you do not support corruption.” This is exactly how Amit Shah challenged Mamata Banerjee from a rally in Siliguri during his visit on January 31. The Union Home Minister targeted the Trinamool Congress on the issue of corruption from the very beginning of his speech.
Amit Shah said, “There is no government in this country more corrupt than Mamata Banerjee’s government. Mamata Didi says there is no corruption. Mamata Didi, you have institutionalised corruption. The cash-for-query scam happened under your rule, the SSC scam happened under your rule. Municipal corporation corruption, cattle smuggling, ration scam happened during your tenure. Corruption in the 100-day work scheme, corruption in the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana happened during your time. Your government has committed corruption worth 10 lakh crore rupees. And you are saying there is no corruption?”
Raising the pitch further, he said, “How many of your associates have gone to jail on corruption charges! Partha Chatterjee has gone to jail, Jyotipriya Mallick has gone to jail, Anubrata Mondal has gone to jail. Jibankrishna Saha, Manik Bhattacharya, Ajit Maity, Chandranath Sinha, Paresh Pal, Kuntal Ghosh, Arabul Islam, Firhad Hakim, Sovan Chatterjee, Kunal Ghosh, Rajat Majumdar, Sohrab Ali… who are these people? They are your ministers, MPs, and MLAs.”
He further said, “Today, from North Bengal, I am challenging Mamata Didi, if you do not support corruption, then do not give tickets to these 23 people. Only then will it be clear that you do not support corruption. But she will give them tickets. Why will she give them tickets? If she doesn’t give them tickets, they will reveal the nephew’s name. That’s why she will give them tickets. But don’t worry, West Bengal will get a corruption-free government.”
Abhishek Banerjee’s reply to Amit Shah
Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee gave a counter-response to his statement. He said, “Since the West Bengal elections coming up, he (Amit Shah) is visiting once every month. After the elections, they are nowhere to be found. But, those who talk about investigating corruption, what evidence do they have of fighting against BJP’s corruption? In every single joining over the last 10-12 years… here, the Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Himanta Biswa Sarma in Assam, Narayan Rane in Maharashtra, the Deputy Chief Minister who recently died in an unfortunate incident—I won’t name him—but there are numerous examples. Those who are saying these things are saying them just to make people laugh.”
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