BJP leaders criticize Mamata-Congress bonhomie

Former West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mamata Banerjee with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. | Photo credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership on Tuesday (Nov 3, 2026) continued for the second consecutive day to criticize and raise questions about the bonhomie between the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress faction and the Congress party, accusing the former chief minister of joining forces in Delhi to create anarchy in the country.

BJP president Nitin Nabin made a similar allegation against Ms Banerjee during a rally in Kolkata on Monday (November 2, 2026). On Tuesday (November 3, 2026), West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and BJP leader and former Union Minister Smriti Irani criticized the meeting between Mamata Banerjee’s party and the Congress.

Mr Adhikari, who attended the ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ march in North Bengal’s Siliguri, said the former chief minister had not been invited to inaugurate the only Durga Puja in Kolkata and was going to Delhi to ally with anarchists.

The chief minister tried to tar most of the opposition parties that gathered at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on November 1 with the same brush, calling them a dynasty and saying they were four-generation, three-generation and two-generation parties.

Mr. Adhikari referred to the Congress as the “4G” party, referring to (Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi), the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) as the “3G” (Karunanidhi, MK Stalin and Udhayanidhi Stalin) and Ravid Banerjeola as the “2G” Congress (Mamata Banerjee-Abhishek Banerjee and Lalu). Prasad-Tejashwi Yadav). He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “no G”.

BJP leader Smriti Irani, who held a press conference in Kolkata, also spoke in a similar vein and accused the Trinamool Congress of trampling on democracy in the state by unleashing attacks on BJP workers and committing atrocities on women workers. “Today these political morons are shaking hands with the Congress at Ramlila Maidan,” she said. Ms Irani called Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi an “eternal prince-in-waiting” and said he was undermining the country’s democratic institutions.

WBPCC president calls for unity of opposition parties

The BJP leadership’s remarks come at a time when speculation is rife in political circles about greater opposition unity in the state. West Bengal Congress president Subhankar Sarkar on Tuesday (November 3, 2026) called on all opposition parties to come together and leave their flags aside and use “white flags” instead. Just a few weeks ago, Mamata Banerjee decided to support Congress candidates in the Nandigram bypolls after her party’s nominee withdrew the candidates at the last minute.

Reacting to signs of a new political alignment, BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya called Mamata Banerjee, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and CPI(M) state secretary Md. Salim to hold the procession “hand in hand”.

Published – 04 Nov 2026 01:58 IST