Corruption scams dominate West Bengal politics as TMC and BJP trade charges before 2026 polls, with key TMC leaders out on bail and BJP pushing aggressive campaign attacks.
West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee with party leader Partha Chatterjee (R) during a meeting with party leaders of Nadia, in Kolkata. (IMAGE: PTI FILE)
Corruption allegations have become a core issue in West Bengal’s political contest, with both the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) weaponising cases, court developments and counter-allegations as the state heads towards the 2026 Assembly elections.
At the centre of the controversy are a series of high-profile cases involving senior TMC leaders, cutting across sectors such as education, food distribution and alleged illegal trade networks.
The most politically damaging has been the school recruitment scam, where more than 25,000 teaching and non-teaching jobs were cancelled following court intervention. Former minister Partha Chatterjee, once a key organisational figure in the TMC, was arrested in 2022 after large sums of cash were recovered from properties linked to his associate. The case expanded to include other party leaders such as Manik Bhattacharya, Jibankrishna Saha and Kuntal Ghosh.
In parallel, the ration distribution scam led to the arrest of senior leader Jyotipriya Mallick, while the cattle smuggling case saw strongman Anubrata Mondal being taken into custody by central agencies. These cases, spanning welfare delivery and alleged illegal trade, fed into the Opposition’s broader narrative of systemic corruption.
The political impact has been tangible. The school jobs case, in particular, hit a sensitive nerve, directly affecting thousands of aspirants and their families, turning corruption from an abstract charge into a lived grievance. Welfare-linked allegations, such as those tied to ration distribution, further sharpened concerns among poorer sections.
However, the narrative has evolved in recent months. According to The Indian Express, several key TMC leaders, including Chatterjee, Mallick and Mondal, are now out on bail following court orders. The Supreme Court’s direction to release pending MNREGS funds to West Bengal has also been projected by the TMC as vindication in its tussle with the Centre.
A senior TMC leader told the publication that “politics is all about perception”, adding that bail for leaders accused in corruption cases is being viewed by supporters as a form of relief, if not acquittal. The party has used these developments to argue that the BJP’s allegations were politically motivated, with Abhishek Banerjee describing the withholding of funds as an attempt to “punish” Bengal.
Leaders facing allegations have also struck a defiant note. Jyotipriya Mallick, in an interaction with PTI, said a “record victory” in the upcoming elections would be his response to what he described as a conspiracy behind his arrest, signalling that those accused remain politically active and embedded within the party structure.
The BJP, however, has doubled down on its attack. Party leaders continue to frame the TMC as “fully corrupt”, arguing that bail does not amount to a clean chit. On the ground, this has translated into targeted campaigns. As reported by The Telegraph, Union minister Sukanta Majumdar recently released “charge sheets” against six TMC MLAs in Malda and Murshidabad, alleging corruption, governance failures and links to criminal activities. The TMC has dismissed these as politically motivated, accusing the BJP of attempting to polarise voters.
The corruption debate is not limited to the TMC. Questions around investigative agencies and political alignments have also entered the discourse. An investigation by The Indian Express found that several Opposition leaders across parties — including figures from Bengal — saw cases slow down or stall after joining the BJP, a phenomenon often described by Opposition parties as a “washing machine” effect. The BJP has denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that agencies act based on evidence.
The report notes that Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, once a senior TMC leader who switched to the BJP ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections, remains an accused in the Narada sting operation case, with the matter pending sanction for prosecution. Similarly, Sovan Chatterjee, a former Kolkata mayor who had briefly joined the BJP before quitting, was later arrested in connection with the same case and is currently out on bail.
For Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, navigating this terrain has required a multi-pronged strategy. In a 2023 report, The Indian Express noted that the TMC sought to counter the corruption narrative not only by contesting the allegations but also by reframing the political discourse.
This has included attempts to draw parallels with alleged practices under previous regimes. In one instance, TMC leader Udayan Guha publicly accused his own father, a former minister in the Left government, of irregular job appointments, signalling an effort to broaden the corruption debate beyond the current dispensation.
At the same time, the party has doubled down on welfare delivery and direct voter outreach, seeking to shift attention from allegations to governance. The continued emphasis on schemes such as Lakshmi Bhandar and Kanyashree reflects this approach, even as the Opposition attempts to keep the spotlight on corruption cases.
There are also signs of tactical recalibration. Following electoral setbacks such as the Sagardighi bypoll, where minority vote shifts and the corruption narrative were seen as contributing factors, the TMC undertook organisational changes and renewed its outreach to key voter groups, according to the report.
The BJP, for its part, is unlikely to relent. Corruption remains one of its most potent campaign planks in Bengal, reinforced by on-ground messaging such as localised “charge sheets” against TMC leaders and repeated references to scams that directly affected livelihoods.
April 04, 2026, 19:08 IST
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