War of words escalates as TMC targets Amit Shah, BJP issues 'charge sheet' against Mamata

Hours after Union home minister Amit Shah released a ‘charge sheet’ against the West Bengal government on Saturday afternoon, Trinamool Congress hit back with a charge sheet of its own against the BJP, Shah and the union government.

The home minister claimed the state had become a ‘laboratory of corruption’ under Trinamool Congress government since 2011 and a graveyard of industries. He called upon the people to vote out the incumbent government and replace ‘Bhoy’ (Fear) with ‘Bhorosha’ (Trust).

The home minister reiterated his claim that SIR in the state was designed to identify infiltrators and deport them from the state. "Every illegal infiltrator will be identified and removed from Indian soil and replacing TMC with BJP is the only way to reverse artificial demographic shifts," the home minister claimed.

Pointing out that NDA had formed the government in J&K for the first time in 2015, in 2016 in Assam, in 2017 in Manipur, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh, in Tripura in 2018 and in Odisha in 2024, he exuded confidence that in 2026 BJP would be forming the government in West Bengal.

The counter-attack from Trinamool was swift in coming. ‘Mota Bhai, Jobab Chai’ (Mota Bhai, we want answers). Within an hour the party released its own list of BJP’s lapses.

The party framed BJP’s claim that the state is full of infiltrators as a slur and an insult to Bengal and Bengalis. "Because BJP is the biggest beneficiary of illegal infiltration. They want to blur the line between Bengali and Bangladeshi so they can import their hateful Assam-style detention camp model into Bengal," the party asserted, questioning the failure of the home ministry in curbing infiltration, if any.

It also cited a reply in parliament by the government which had stated that the number of registered companies in the state had gone up from 1.21 lakh in 2010 to 2.50 lakh in July 2025.

“Between 2020 and 31 July 2025, 49,040 new companies were incorporated in Bengal, while a mere 1,742 shifted their registered offices out of the state,” the party claimed to rebut the claim of industrial stagnation and decline.

Mahua Moitra accused Shah of releasing a chargesheet against the people of Bengal rather than just the state government, alleging that the BJP had branded Bengalis as Bangladeshis and Rohingyas and subjected them to harassment in BJP-ruled states.

She said Bengalis had been “criminalised” in stages, first insulted, then deprived, then labelled criminals and finally harassed and charged that Shah was trying to distract attention from his own record.

Moitra also questioned the role of the Enforcement Directorate, saying it functions under Shah’s authority and is used overwhelmingly against opposition leaders. She cited what she described as nearly 6,000 ED cases since 2014, with 98 percent against opposition figures and only 25 convictions, calling the conviction rate extremely low.

She contrasted that with the many pending FIRs against the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, and with the case involving former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh, arguing that powerful people in the ruling system remain untouched despite serious allegations.

Bratya Basu widened the attack beyond Bengal and said the BJP had no moral right to lecture the state on law and order while, by the Centre’s own reports, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan were among the most unsafe states for women.

He accused the BJP of withholding Bengal’s dues, relying on the language of “infiltrators” and using the state as a political punching bag instead of addressing real governance failures.

He also raised questions on Manipur, Brij Bhushan, Unnao and Hathras, saying the BJP speaks loudly about Bengal but stays silent on crises in states it rules.

Bratya claimed the BJP leaders visit Bengal to talk about demography and security while the country continues to face fears over blasts near the Red Fort and inside Parliament, and he asked who was accountable for the safety of tourists in Pahalgam.

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said, “The chargesheet against the BJP government is already here and the hearing has also been finished by the people of Bengal. They are going to give the judgement on May 4, the day of the election results.”

According to senior political analyst, Sujit Chatterjee, “The TMC’s counter-chargesheet was not just a rebuttal, it was an attempt to seize the moral high ground. By focusing on Bengalis’ dignity, central agency use, women’s safety, pending state dues and alleged double standards, the party tried to shift the debate away from the BJP’s accusations and toward the BJP’s own record.

Meanwhile, the BJP tried to describe the violence in Murshidabad during a Ramnavami procession as a sign of Muslim communalism and failure of law and order. The charges were quickly rebutted by Trinamool Congress pointing out that the responsibility lay squarely with the Election Commission which had overhauled the administration, replacing experienced officers with people from outside.

The state government bore no responsibility for what happened, the party said and pointed out that BJP and RSS supporters are among those who were arrested for the violence