'Observers from outside are working at the BJP's behest': CM Mamata Banerjee lashes out at Election Commission.

Amidst the second and final phase of voting in Bengal, Chief Minister and TMC candidate from the Bhabanipur assembly constituency, Mamata Banerjee, has alleged that numerous observers brought in from outside are merely doing exactly what the BJP tells them to do. “All our posters have been removed. Is this how elections are conducted? It is the voters who cast the votes—not the police or the security forces. Recently, some new personnel have been brought in, and they are doing whatever they please. They are engaging in acts of terror.”

Mamata remarked, “Look at how our party worker was beaten up last night. Just look at this atrocity. What kind of hooliganism is going on? Voting does not take place like this. Voting is meant to be a peaceful process. It is the festival of democracy. Yet, they have completely ruined it. Their intention is crystal clear: the BJP wants to forcibly rig this election. Our workers and the people are ready to lay down their lives, but they will not yield an inch of ground.”

BJP Treating the People of Bengal Like Bangladesh and Pakistan: Abhishek Banerjee

During the second and final phase of the 2026 Bengal Assembly elections, TMC National General Secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee cast his vote on Wednesday morning at the Mitra Institution polling station in Kolkata’s Bhabanipur assembly constituency. Speaking to journalists after casting his vote, Abhishek alleged that the BJP is treating the people of Bengal in the very manner it ought to be treating adversaries like Bangladesh and Pakistan. “They simply do not understand the people of Bengal,” he asserted.

Expressing confidence in his party’s victory, Abhishek stated that the TMC’s vote share would increase. “We will secure a mandate even larger than the one we received in 2021. The people of the BJP say one thing but do something entirely different.” He appealed to the public to turn out in massive numbers to cast their votes and deliver such a resounding majority to Bengal that these individuals are compelled to think a hundred times before attempting to treat the state in this manner again.

Abhishek’s Jibe at BJP’s Claims

Responding to the BJP’s claims of a “clean sweep” in Bengal, Abhishek remarked, “They made similar claims back in 2021 as well. Go and ask them how that turned out. Whenever the election results were finally declared, the outcome was the exact opposite of what they had predicted.” Therefore, it is your responsibility to go and ask BJP leaders why, every time they have made a prediction, it has ultimately turned out in favor of the TMC.

Speaking sarcastically, he noted that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had predicted that the party would secure 200 seats in the 2021 elections; however, it was the TMC that surpassed the 200-seat mark. He further pointed out that regarding the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Home Minister had stated that the BJP would win 30 seats in Bengal, whereas the TMC ended up securing 29 seats.

This time, they are claiming they will win 177 seats; therefore, judging by their track record, their actual tally is likely to drop below 50. He emphasized that, performing even worse than in 2021, the BJP would not win even 50 seats this time around.