New Delhi: Riding high on his party’s resounding victory in Delhi Assembly polls, West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday evening sounded a warning to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee: “Look out, you are next.”
Talking to reporters after BJP’s victory, an excited Adhikari said, “Delhi ki jeet hamari hain… 2026 mein Bengal ki baari (Delhi’s win is ours; it’s Bengal’s turn in 2026).”
A similar warning was issued by Sukanta Majumdar, a senior West Bengal BJP leader. He announced that the people of Bengal will also vote for the BJP in the coming Assembly polls. Both thanked the Bengali community in Delhi for the BJP’s thumping victory, even though it is unclear at this time whether they went with the saffron party or for the Aam Aadmi Party, which was supported by Mamata Banerjee.
The BJP has defeated the AAP in Delhi, bagging 48 of the 70 Assembly seats — a huge improvement from the eight it won in the 2020 election and just three in 2015. AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal and his aide Manish Sisodia lost their individual contests, and this added insult to the injury.
What the warnings reflect
The stern warnings of the West Bengal BJP leaders come as the Bengal election are scheduled to be held in March-April next year. The warnings reflect the BJP’s relentless determination to dismantle Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress.
Banerjee has spearheaded the Trinamool to win over Prime Minister Modi and the BJP in three consecutive major elections: the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and the 2021 Bengal Assembly election. The Trinamool also recorded a sweep against the BJP in the 2021 Kolkata local body elections.
In the 2019 national election, the Trinamool managed to elbow out the BJP by just four seats. However, five years later, Mamata Banerjee showcased her political muscle, increasing her lead by bagging 29 seats and winning by 17-seat margin. The BJP also suffered a huge defeat in the 2021 state elections, further boosting the Trinamool’s dominance.
However, each victory was followed by clashes between the two parties, marked by accusations of post-poll violence — including gunfights, mob killings, and crude bomb attacks that claimed the lives of party workers and supporters from both sides — sparking more animosity.
The animosity mounted as the two parties crossed swords over rows surrounding Banerjee’s government, including the rape and murder of a medico at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital in August last year, as well as charges of sexual assault in Sandeshkhali against local Trinamool leader Sheikh Shahjahan.
Many of the BJP’s recent scathing attacks on Banerjee have been launched by Adhikari. For instance, on the Sandeshkhali row, in January, Adhikari said, “… the BJP will send you behind bars for making these women go to jail in false cases. We will take revenge, with interest.”
The BJP leaders’ warnings come at a time when the Trinamool supported the AAP, which escalated tensions within the INDIA bloc. Interestingly, many Congress candidates ate into AAP votes, thereby helping BJP to cruise to victory
