2026 West Bengal elections will be Waterloo for Mamata Banerjee: BJP leader CR Kesavan

Speaking to ANI, Kesavan said, “The 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections will definitely be the Waterloo for Mamata Banerjee because the people of West Bengal have firmly decided to boot out and root out the 15-year notorious misrule of Mamata Banerjee’s TMC and defeat her. The TMC now infamously denotes (appeasement politics) Tushriikaran, misappropriation and corruption. Mamata Banerjee is not bothered about the future of West Bengal. Neither does she care about protecting the dignity of Nari Shakti in West Bengal, nor does she have concern for uplifting the lives of the marginalised sections.”

Kesavan further accused the TMC of pursuing narrow vote-bank politics, stating, “The only motive of Mamata Banerjee and the TMC is to appease their vote bank minority…

due to the ‘tushtikaran’ (appeasement) politics of the TMC there has been an alarming increase in infiltration of illegal immigrants in West Bengal and this has now become so alarming that it is an issue of national concern.”He also claimed the party had eroded the rights of OBC communities to pander to its political base.

“Like our Home Minister pointed out yesterday in West Bengal, the TMC is brazenly eroding and snatching away the rights of the OBC communities to pander and peddle their narrow vote bank politics of religious appeasement,” he added.On the issue of women’s safety, Kesavan said, “Mamata Banerjee, despite being a woman and the Home Minister of West Bengal, has completely failed the Nari Shakti of West Bengal.”

West Bengal will hold polling for the elections in two phases, with the first phase scheduled on April 23 and the second phase on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 4.As per the Election Commission of India (ECI), the first phase covering 152 Assembly constituencies will begin with the issuance of the gazette notification on March 30. The last date for filing nominations for this phase is April 6, while scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 7. Candidates will be allowed to withdraw their nominations until April 9. Polling for the first phase will be held on April 23.

For the second phase, which covers 142 Assembly constituencies, the gazette notification will be issued on April 2. The last date for filing nominations is April 9, and the scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 10. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until April 13. Voting for this phase is scheduled for April 29.