End of "Didi Ka Gunda Raj": West Bengal Rejects TMC's Reign of Violence and Intimidation

 

As the results of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections were declared on May 4, a decisive verdict echoed across the state. Mamata Banerjee, whose Trinamool Congress (TMC) had long faced accusations of fostering a culture of political hooliganism, suffered a crushing defeat. The party, accused of ruling through muscle power and alleged systemic persecution, lost even Mamata Banerjee's own seat. In a display of characteristic defiance, the outgoing Chief Minister reportedly threatened not to resign, underscoring the very "Gunda Raj" that Bengal's voters have decisively rejected.

 

For more than a decade and a half, West Bengal under TMC rule witnessed repeated cycles of political violence, particularly targeting opposition workers, especially those of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). From booth-level intimidation to post-poll reprisals, the pattern remained consistent. TMC cadres allegedly operated with impunity, turning elections into battlegrounds. The 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the recently concluded 2026 Assembly polls proved no exception. A compilation of 17 major incidents highlights the scale of alleged TMC-orchestrated violence that marked these electoral exercises.

 

 

In the lead-up to and during polling, several brazen attacks were reported. On April 5, 2026, alleged TMC goons vandalised a BJP office in Parnasree, Behala, South Kolkata, in the presence of their candidate Ratna Chatterjee. CCTV footage reportedly captured the incident, which targeted the office of BJP leader and candidate Idranil Khan.

 

 

On April 21, 2026, BJP candidate Subhendu Sarkar from Kumarganj narrowly escaped an attack by alleged TMC goons. His associates and vehicle suffered severe damage. During the same phase, reports emerged from Labhpur in Birbhum, where a BJP candidate and polling team allegedly faced a mob that kicked, punched, and smashed the rear windshield of their vehicle. The BJP polling agent was reportedly left bloodied.

 

 

Similar violence continued across the state. On April 23, 2024, during earlier phases of polling, the vehicle of BJP candidate Agnimitra Paul in Asansol was allegedly pelted with stones and bricks by TMC supporters. In Raninagar, TMC workers faced accusations of obstructing voters at Booth No. 54. In Cooch Behar, a BJP poll booth office in Dabgram-Fulbari was set on fire, while armed TMC workers allegedly attacked supporters in Sitalkuchi.

 

 

The brutality escalated in late April. On April 28, 2024, Saraswati Sarkar, president of Kasba Mahila Mandal, was allegedly attacked with sharp weapons by TMC workers while putting up banners in Anandapur, South Kolkata. She suffered head injuries and appeared bleeding profusely in videos that later went viral. The following day, BJP workers in Siliguri's Matigara area allegedly faced attacks that triggered a 12-hour bandh and protests outside the police station over delays in filing FIRs. In Darjeeling too, TMC cadres reportedly used rods and hockey sticks against BJP workers after sensing defeat.

 

 

As polling progressed into May, the pattern allegedly persisted. On May 13, 2024, BJP candidate Dilip Ghosh's convoy in Manteswar, Purba Bardhaman, was stopped and attacked. Protesters reportedly lay in front of vehicles and vandalised a security vehicle. In Kakinara, a BJP worker was allegedly assaulted by a TMC councillor for putting up party flags. In South 24 Parganas, BJP karyakarta Mamoni Das and her husband allegedly came under attack at Kathpole More near Canning Bazaar.

 

Stone-pelting targeted BJP candidate Pranat Tudu in West Midnapore on May 25, 2024, injuring CISF personnel. In Nandigram, multiple attacks on BJP supporters were reported, including the tragic killing of worker Rathibala Ari in Sonachura on May 23, 2024. Another worker, Sanjay Ari, reportedly lost his mother in related violence. Even after polling concluded, BJP offices allegedly continued to face attacks, including one that was set on fire in Hasnabad on June 4, 2024.

 

 

Allegations of booth irregularities, such as the infamous "Diamond Harbour Model" involving proxy voting and compromised CCTV surveillance, further eroded public trust in the electoral process.

 

 

These incidents did not appear as isolated outbursts but as part of a larger, decades-long narrative involving the alleged targeting of BJP workers and, by extension, Hindu voices resisting TMC's alleged appeasement politics and syndicate raj.