NEW DELHI ,24 April 2026 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has launched an attack on the BJP as a part of the state went to polls on Thursday, asserting that she will turn her focus to Delhi after winning the assembly polls. Left amused by her remark, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said she has nothing left for her in Bengal.
Speaking at a rally in Kolkata’s Chowringhee area, the chief minister — who has been at the helm for 15 years — said she will “dismantle” the BJP in the Centre by bring together the Opposition parties.
“Remember this, you cannot defeat us. We fight against injustice; we fight for our rights. I was born in Bengal, and I shall breathe my last in this very Bengal. I will take over Delhi once I have secured victory in Bengal. I will do so by rallying all the political parties together. I won’t want the seat (of power); I want the complete dismantling of the BJP in Delhi. While their destruction in Bengal is inevitable, the BJP must be ousted from Delhi as well,” the chief minister said.
Banerjee was campaigning for her party’s candidate and two-time sitting MLA Nayna Bandopadhyay, who is contesting her BJP rival Santosh Pathak.
Targeting the BJP, she said she has noted down the names of everyone who are working for the BJP.
“You think you can keep tabs on us? Every single person you have inducted, you brought them into the BJP fold only after scrutinising their family backgrounds, and you have appointed officers based on that very same criterion,” the chief minister said in her speech.
Senior BJP leader Amit Shah, who is campaigning in Kolkata, laughed off Banerjee’s remark today and said, “There is nothing left here. How will she come to Delhi? What should I say?”
While Banerjee was campaigning in Chowringhee yesterday, about 3.35 crore cast their votes in 152 seats elsewhere in the state. The Chowrangee seat, held by the Trinamool since 2011, will vote in the second phase on April 29, along with other seats in Kolkata. In the first phase of polling yesterday, Bengal saw a 92.8 per cent voter turnout, marking a record participation of the electorate after a 90-lakh purge during voter roll revision earlier this year.
Picture credit social media
