Kolkata, Jan 13 (PTI) With the 2026 Assembly elections on the horizon, the West Bengal BJP has rolled out a new campaign strategy, constituency-wise “chargesheets”, targeting Trinamool Congress legislators and grassroots leaders, prompting a sharp counter-call from TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee.
Moving beyond its standard state-level attacks on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the BJP has begun issuing separate chargesheets for individual Assembly segments, cataloguing alleged failures and controversies involving TMC MLAs, municipal heads, councillors and panchayat leaders.
The party claims it has already released such documents in at least 10 constituencies, including Shibpur in Howrah district, Panihati, Khardah, Bijpur and North Dum Dum in North 24 Parganas, and Krishnanagar North in Nadia, with the remaining seats expected to follow within the next fortnight.
According to BJP leaders, the chargesheets draw from a familiar statewide narrative: corruption, governance deficit, women’s safety, law and order, minority appeasement and alleged illegal infiltration, but add what they describe as a “localised weaponry” of issues rooted in constituency-specific incidents.
These range from alleged civic collapse and infrastructure failures to syndicate raj, land grabbing, illegal constructions, factory closures and criminal cases involving individuals allegedly close to TMC leaders.
Digital versions of the chargesheets are being circulated on WhatsApp, while printed leaflets are being distributed at the neighbourhood level.
In Shibpur, the BJP has revived the memory of the Belgharia landfill disaster and the continued displacement of affected families. In Khardah, visuals of a submerged hospital have been foregrounded, while in North Dum Dum, the party has highlighted a case in which a five-month-old child allegedly drowned in a waterlogged home due to a failed drainage system.
The strategy, BJP insiders say, is meant to keep local grievances alive in everyday conversations and sharpen the party’s attack on the ruling dispensation at the booth level.
The BJP had won 77 of Bengal’s 294 Assembly seats in the 2021 elections, a tally that has since dropped to 65 due to resignations, defections, deaths and by-poll losses.
Party leaders said the same strategy would be deployed even in BJP-held seats, focusing not on their own legislators, but on “obstruction” by the ruling party and promises of development if the BJP comes to power.
Explaining the approach, BJP state spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said West Bengal’s political discourse has long been skewed towards Kolkata-centric issues, ignoring the diverse problems of districts across the state.
“The BJP treats Kolkata and the districts with equal importance. Problems vary across regions, and those issues deserve political articulation,” he said.
The Trinamool Congress, however, is not brushing aside the tactic.
Addressing a “digital warriors” conference at the Milan Mela grounds here on Monday, Abhishek Banerjee asked party workers to prepare for constituency-level counter-attacks.
“I am hearing that the BJP will issue chargesheets against our MLAs. Wherever they do so, we must respond with local development data,” said Banerjee, considered number two in the TMC hierarchy.
He instructed TMC workers to highlight booth-wise performance, contrast alleged denial of central funds with the state government’s initiatives, and mount a data-driven rebuttal on the ground.
The exchange underscores a broader shift in Bengal’s political contest, from personality-driven, state-level narratives to an increasingly micro-targeted battle over local governance, as both parties dig in for the high-stakes 2026 assembly elections. PTI PNT NN
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