The political landscape in West Bengal has entered a feverish phase as the state gears up for the 2026 Assembly elections, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launching an all-out campaign and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) vowing fierce resistance. Just days after wrapping up its campaign in Bihar, the BJP shifted its entire organisational focus to West Bengal on November 24, 2025, rolling out a sweeping restructuring aimed at breaking the TMC’s stronghold and consolidating its own base in the state.
According to Business Today, the BJP’s strategy is nothing short of ambitious. The party has divided West Bengal into five high-priority zones, each assigned a sangathan mantri—a key organisational secretary—and a senior political leader. These leaders, drawn from six different states, will camp in West Bengal until the elections, running an intensive, five-month campaign. Their mandate is clear: strengthen the BJP’s ground network, build robust booth-level machinery, and penetrate areas where the TMC has long maintained dominance.
The five zones are as follows: Radha-Banga (Purulia–Bardhaman), Howrah–Hooghly–Medinipur, Kolkata Metropolitan & South 24 Parganas, Nabadwip & North 24 Parganas, and North Bengal (Malda–Siliguri Division). Each zone has been carefully matched with leaders who bring both organisational experience and political heft. For instance, the Radha-Banga zone is overseen by Pawan Sai, General Secretary (Organisation) from Chhattisgarh, with Uttarakhand minister Dhan Singh Rawat as the supporting leader. Their focus: deepen the BJP’s presence in Purulia and Bardhaman, regions where the party has been eyeing expansion for some time.
In the Howrah–Hooghly–Medinipur zone, Delhi organisation minister Pawan Rana takes charge, supported by Haryana’s Sanjay Bhatia in Howrah and Hooghly, while Uttar Pradesh minister JPS Rathore oversees Medinipur. This region is particularly sensitive, given the influence of Suvendu Adhikari—now the Leader of the Opposition—and the ongoing tussles between the TMC and BJP.
Kolkata Metropolitan & South 24 Parganas, long considered the TMC’s citadel, will see Himachal Pradesh’s M. Siddharthan at the helm, with former national general secretary C.T. Ravi working closely alongside. The party’s plans here are especially intensive, as breaking into these districts would mark a significant breakthrough for the BJP.
Nabadwip & North 24 Parganas is managed by Andhra Pradesh’s N. Madhukar, with Uttar Pradesh’s Suresh Rana as co-in-charge. North 24 Parganas, a border district, is seen as politically strategic, prompting the BJP to focus on strengthening its organisational footprint there. Meanwhile, in North Bengal (Malda–Siliguri Division), Arunachal Pradesh’s Anant Narayan Mishra and Karnataka’s Arun Binnadi lead the charge, with former Union Minister Kailash Choudhary playing a supervisory role. This region remains one of the BJP’s traditional support bases, making it a key battleground in the upcoming polls.
Across all five zones, the BJP’s stated goal is to create a synchronised network where outside leaders and local units work hand-in-hand. The party hopes that this strategy will not only energise its workers but also help it push deep into the TMC’s traditional bases—an ambitious task, given the TMC’s entrenched presence across much of the state.
But the BJP’s aggressive push has not gone unanswered. On November 25, 2025, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressed an anti-SIR rally in Bongaon, making her position unmistakably clear. According to PTI, Banerjee declared, “If the BJP tries to strike me in Bengal, I will shake its foundation across India.” Her words, delivered with characteristic defiance, underscored the high stakes of the political contest and signaled that the TMC would not cede ground easily.
As the two parties gear up for what is shaping up to be a bruising battle, concerns over the fairness of the electoral process have surfaced. On November 25, 2025, Suvendu Adhikari, now the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, submitted a detailed letter to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), alleging serious political misuse of the West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police ahead of the 2026 elections. According to News18, Adhikari’s complaint centered on an event held on November 22, 2025, in Digha, organised by the West Bengal Police Welfare Committee. He claimed the event, ostensibly for police welfare, functioned instead as a political rally for the TMC, with serving police officers sharing the stage with TMC leaders and ministers, delivering speeches that praised the state government while criticising the Centre.
Adhikari argued that the neutrality expected of uniformed personnel had been violated, and that the Welfare Committee—lacking transparent operational guidelines—was being used to mobilise police personnel for political ends. He further alleged that more than 1,000 police personnel and over 1,000 civic volunteers were actively participating in political activities under the Committee’s banner, including attending rallies, influencing public events, and being involved in various election-related irregularities. The complaint referenced two state government notifications from August 2020, which Adhikari said failed to define the Welfare Committee’s scope and functioning, creating scope for “unchecked misuse” of the police apparatus.
Adhikari’s demands before the Election Commission were sweeping: he called for an immediate investigation into the alleged politicisation, disciplinary action against the officers named, barring state police from election duties in 2026, deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) for all crucial stages of the polling process, and strict guidelines to prevent welfare bodies from being used for political activities. He warned that without decisive intervention, the fairness of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections could be compromised.
The TMC has yet to formally respond to these allegations, but the complaint adds a new flashpoint to an already charged political environment. The specter of institutional politicisation, coupled with the BJP’s aggressive campaign and the TMC’s combative stance, has set the stage for a high-stakes contest that could reshape the state’s political landscape—and perhaps have repercussions far beyond West Bengal’s borders.
As the countdown to April-May 2026 begins, all eyes are on West Bengal. With both the BJP and TMC digging in for a protracted fight, and with concerns over the impartiality of state institutions hanging in the air, the coming months promise to be as dramatic as they are decisive.
