Campaigning is under way across West Bengal, India, with a war of words intensifying among political parties, reports hindustantimes.com on Tuesday.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that India prime minister Narendra Modi’s unscheduled stop to buy Bengal’s favourite snack ‘jhalmuri’ during poll campaigning in Jhargram was merely a ‘drama’.
‘How were cameras present when he made the unscheduled stop? The entire episode was scripted,’ she alleged.
The prime minister on Sunday posted a video on his official X account in which he was seen buying ‘jhalmuri’, a popular Bengali street food made of puffed rice, green chillies, and spices, from a nondescript shop in Jhargram.
Mamata Banerjee also alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party had planted its ‘cherry-picked’ officers at the airport to deliberately delay her flight.
The chief minister said her flight was kept waiting on the runway for 30 minutes, adding that a similar delay occurred with Hemant Soren’s chopper.
India’s union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday accused West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee of protecting ‘infiltrators’, encouraging dynastic politics, and supporting efforts to build a ‘Babri Masjid-modelled mosque’ in the state — something he said the BJP would oppose.
Speaking at a rally in Salboni, Paschim Medinipur, ahead of the first phase of the Assembly elections, Shah positioned the contest as an ideological fight between the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of the TMC, on Tuesday attacked the BJP for ‘failing’ to deliver on its promises, while asserting that West Bengal’s welfare schemes — especially Lakshmir Bhandar — will continue uninterrupted.
Addressing a poll rally in Barjora, Bankura district, he said women beneficiaries ‘will continue to receive benefits under the scheme for life’ in West Bengal.
Meanwhile, Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress president, welcomed the defeat of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, accusing the BJP of playing a ‘dangerous game’ by linking women’s reservation to delimitation.
Actor-turned-politician and TVK chief Vijay on Tuesday made a final appeal to voters ahead of the April 23 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, urging them to support his party’s ‘Whistle’ symbol and promising to stand firm against pressure from established political forces.
Positioning his party as a fresh alternative in the state’s political landscape, Vijay said his movement represents the aspirations of ordinary people and vowed that his leadership would not be influenced by entrenched interests.
Echoing the high-stakes nature of the contest, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, campaigning for the (INDIA) bloc, launched a sharp attack on the BJP, alleging that it aims to install a ‘puppet’ chief minister and run a remote-controlled government in Tamil Nadu.
Addressing an election rally a day earlier, Gandhi asserted that the INDIA alliance would resist any such attempt, framing the election as a battle to protect the state’s identity and dignity.
The states of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are set to vote on April 23. West Bengal will vote in two phases — the first phase on April 23 and the second phase on April 29. The counting of votes for all polling states and Union Territories will take place on May 4, 2026.
