The Trinamool Congress and the BJP have moved the Election Commission against each other over alleged threats, hate speeches and abusive remarks just weeks ahead of the 2026 West Bengal assembly polls.
Panihati candidate controversy at centre of dispute
At the centre of the row is the BJP’s Panihati candidate, the mother of the RG Kar hospital doctor who was raped and murdered last year, and TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, whose provocative comments against Union Home Minister Amit Shah have triggered a counter-complaint by the saffron camp.
In a complaint to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday, the TMC MP accused the BJP candidate of making “highly objectionable, threatening and derogatory” remarks against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The Serampore MP also alleged that the BJP’s Panihati nominee had even made remarks amounting to a threat to her life.
Describing the comments as “deeply disturbing” and a danger to democratic values, Kalyan Banerjee urged the poll panel to intervene immediately.
“The use of abusive language and issuance of threats during an electoral process undermines the principles of free and fair elections and creates an atmosphere of fear and hostility among the public,” the TMC MP said in his letter.
Seeking exemplary action, he requested the commission to take cognisance of the matter, order a prompt and impartial inquiry, initiate strict legal and disciplinary action against the BJP candidate and ensure that such violations are not repeated.
The TMC sought to portray the issue as part of what it called the BJP’s strategy of importing the language of confrontation and intimidation into Bengal’s election campaign.
BJP counters with counter-complaint
As Kalyan Banerjee moved the Election Commission, the BJP hit back within hours with a complaint before the West Bengal chief electoral officer, accusing the TMC MP of making “derogatory, provocative and hateful” remarks against Amit Shah.
The BJP included a video clip with its complaint and alleged that Kalyan Banerjee’s comments against the Union Home Minister were not an isolated outburst but part of a wider pattern of inflammatory rhetoric by the ruling party.
In its letter, submitted by state BJP leader Shishir Bajoria, the party alleged that Kalyan Banerjee’s remarks were intended to “demean, provoke and incite hostility”, thereby creating tension and polarisation in the middle of the election campaign.
“The subject statement is not an isolated incident, but a part of a continuing and escalating pattern of provocative and intimidatory rhetoric by TMC leadership and its functionaries,” the BJP said.
The saffron party went a step further, claiming that repeated attacks by TMC leaders on the BJP leadership reflected a “coordinated strategy” to spread hostility, fear and hatred.
According to the BJP, Kalyan Banerjee’s comments had been made with the tacit approval of the Trinamool Congress leadership and amounted to a “systemic disregard” for the Model Code of Conduct.
The BJP urged the poll authorities to hold Banerjee guilty of violating the MCC, direct the immediate removal of the video carrying his remarks from public platforms, restrain him and other TMC leaders from making similar speeches and initiate criminal proceedings under relevant laws.
Panihati seat turns politically significant
The Panihati seat has acquired unusual political significance after the BJP fielded the mother of the RG Kar victim, seeking to convert last year’s statewide outrage over the doctor’s rape and murder into an electoral issue.
The TMC, however, has repeatedly accused the BJP of politicising personal tragedy and using the grieving family as a political weapon against the Mamata Banerjee government.
The BJP, on the other hand, has projected the candidate as a symbol of resistance against what it describes as the state’s failure to ensure justice and women’s safety.
Published on April 6, 2026