At a public meeting at Surjya Sen Nagar Grounds in Khardaha on April 20, 2026, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee attacked the use of the military and central agencies in the election process, asking why armed forces were being “dragged into elections."
“The military is to protect the country; why will they interfere in elections? Has anyone ever heard that meetings with the military are held for elections?” she said.
Banerjee alleged that her flight was delayed for 30 minutes and claimed the same happened with Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s chopper. She said such delays were being done deliberately and accused the BJP of placing its people in airports. She also said permissions for the Khardaha meeting had been difficult to obtain and alleged that officers were being “cherry-picked” to delay her programs.
Banerjee alleged false cases
During the rally, Banerjee said she believed false cases, including under the weed-related law, could be slapped on Trinamool Congress workers and alleged that the local administration was acting under BJP influence. She urged officials to work without bias and said people would respond “democratically” to what she called arrogance.
A large part of her speech focused on the upcoming polls in Bengal. Banerjee urged voters to support AITC candidate Devdeep Purohit in Khardaha and cautioned them to check EVMs carefully and remain alert on the counting day. She alleged that voters had been selectively deleted and warned that the BJP would try to use the election to push NRC in the state.
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Repeated criticism of central policies
She also accused the BJP of misusing Doordarshan for political campaigning, questioned the party on job creation promises, and repeated her criticism of central policies on prices and welfare. Banerjee said her government had continued schemes such as Laxmir Bhandar, Duare Sarkar, and Swasthya Sathi and claimed Bengal would not allow detention camps or NRC implementation.
