West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told people that they should not resort to any violence if they do not want BJP to rule the state. File | Photo credit: PTI
A day after a mob attacked seven court officials in West Bengal’s Malda, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday (April 2, 2026) urged people not to resort to violence and said the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) “game plan” was to impose President’s rule in the state.
“Nobody informed me about the Malda incident yesterday. I came to know (about it) from a journalist. The Chief Secretary has not contacted me till today,” Ms Banerjee said while addressing a public meeting.
Seven court officials were surrounded by locals at the BDO office at Motabari in Malda district on Wednesday (April 1).
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The officials were rescued late on Wednesday night by a huge contingent of police and security forces.
“The Election Commission (EC) has deleted 1.20 lakh names. BJP’s game plan is to impose President’s rule in the state. Don’t fall into the trap, don’t obstruct the judges,” the Trinamool Congress president said.
She told the people that if they did not want the state to be run by the BJP, they should not resort to violence.
Ms. Banerjee, who held public meetings at Sagardighi and Suti in Murshidabad district, asked people not to fall into the “BJP trap” of riots. She accused the polling panel of “failing to protect” court officials. “Today I no longer have any powers. It’s the EC’s fault, it couldn’t protect the judges,” she said.
Expressing disappointment over the incident, the chief minister said there was an attempt to defame West Bengal. “Everything was ruined by that one incident. I don’t know who did it, but it was definitely planned. Now they’re trying to cancel the election. They’re saying the state’s election system is bad just because of that one incident,” she said.
The Supreme Court on Thursday came down hard on the West Bengal government for not providing protection to judges involved in the work of SIR.
About 60 million cases are pending in court, handled by court clerks. About 40% of the cases were rejected, causing anger and anxiety among people.
The BJP leadership held press conferences in Delhi and Kolkata and accused the ruling Trinamool of inciting the mob.
“Fearful of losing the election after erasing the names of fake voters, Trinamool mobilized jihadi elements in the district and organized this unconstitutional, illegal agitation, keeping court officials, judges, including women, for hours in extreme heat and humidity,” BJP spokesperson Debajit Sarkar said.
Published – 02 Apr 2026 12:37 IST
