West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for targeting the opposition during a time when it has stood united with the government on crucial national security matters.
Speaking in response to Modi’s recent rally in Bengal, Banerjee said, “I am truly shocked and saddened that at a time when the entire opposition is standing with the government, when opposition leaders have gone on overseas delegations to defend India, the Prime Minister comes to Bengal and the BJP announces an ‘Operation Bengal’ akin to Operation Sindoor. This is shameful politics. Stop dividing the country, stop weakening India.”
Banerjee’s remarks came after Modi’s speech in Alipurduar, where he lauded the Indian armed forces for their recent cross-border action dubbed “Operation Sindoor,” symbolically linked to the traditional Bengali festival Sindoor Khela that honors the dignity of women.
In the rally, Modi launched a sharp attack on the Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government, calling it a “nirmam sarkar” (cruel government) plagued by corruption, lawlessness, and rising violence in districts like Murshidabad and Malda.
He accused the state administration of obstructing central welfare schemes such as Ayushman Bharat and PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, depriving the poor and farmers of their rightful benefits.
Adding fuel to the political fire, BJP Bengal president Sukanta Majumdar declared that party workers would undertake an “Operation Bengal” to uproot the current government and “throw it into the Bay of Bengal.”
The statement drew sharp condemnation from the Trinamool Congress, with leaders accusing the BJP of insulting Bengal’s people by equating the state’s electorate to terrorists.
The exchange reflects the intensifying political rivalry in West Bengal ahead of the 2026 assembly elections, with both sides using symbolic language and aggressive rhetoric to mobilize their supporters.
