Mamata Vs Modi : Curtains Fall on Fierce Campaign Trail as Bengal Gears Up for Phase 2 of Election 2026

The curtains have finally come down on what has been one of the most charged and bitterly contested election campaigns in West Bengal’s recent history. With the 48-hour silence period kicking in ahead of Phase 2 voting on April 29, the high-voltage battle for the remaining 142 Assembly seats has reached its crescendo. After Phase 1 polling on April 23 recorded a massive turnout of over 93.19 percent across 152 constituencies, both the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made frantic last-minute appeals in the second and final phase covering Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia and parts of East Burdwan.

The contest is essentially a referendum on 15 years of TMC rule under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is seeking a rare fourth consecutive term, against the BJP’s aggressive push for “parivartan” (change) led from the front by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Prime Minister Modi, addressed close to 14 major rallies and roadshows across the state during the campaign. From the tribal-dominated Jungle Mahal districts where he held four rallies in a single day in Bankura, Purulia, Jhargram and West Midnapore - to high-stakes urban pockets like Siliguri, Haldia, Howrah, Dum Dum, Bangaon, Barrackpore and Arambagh, Modi’s whirlwind schedule reflected the BJP’s determination to keep him and no body else as the face of the party in the run upto polls. Amit Shah has however asserted that a local Bengali medium pass out will be their chief minister after BJP wins, even though he never gave out any hints as who that person can be. 

In speech after speech, the Prime Minister hammered home a consistent pitch: Bengal under the TMC had descended into “jungle raj” marked by syndicate control, political violence, corruption and appeasement politics. He repeatedly invoked the TMC’s own iconic slogan “Maa, Mati, Manush” to turn the tables, declaring that “Maa is crying, maati has been handed over to infiltrators, and manush (people) have fled the state.” Modi accused the ruling dispensation of failing to deliver industries, jobs or security for women, while promising that a “double-engine” BJP government at the Centre and in the state would usher in development, better roads, education and opportunities for the youth. He projected confidence, telling crowds in recent rallies that the massive Phase 1 turnout and the people’s resolve had already sealed a “landslide victory” for the BJP. The message was clear: after 15 years of anti-incumbency, it was time to end the “syndicate raj” and reclaim Bengal’s glory.

Amit Shah complemented Modi’s campaign with sharp focus on border security and infiltration. He described the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as a “major issue” that the people of Bengal had embraced to “throw infiltrators out.” Shah’s roadshows and rallies in districts like Paschim Bardhaman underscored the BJP’s narrative of cleaning up voter lists to ensure genuine democracy.

On the other side, Mamata Banerjee led from the front with a gruelling schedule of well over 200 hundred public meetings, padyatras and street-corner outreach programmes. From her trademark energetic rallies in Bankura, Howrah and Bhabanipur - where she once had to walk off stage midway amid alleged disruptions from nearby BJP events to whirlwind tours across rural and urban Bengal, the incumbent Chief Minister presented herself as the lone warrior defending Bengal’s soul. Her central pitch revolved around safeguarding the “democratic rights of the people” in the wake of the controversial SIR exercise, which reportedly led to the deletion of nearly nine million names from the electoral rolls. Banerjee and the TMC repeatedly termed the revision a disguised attempt at voter suppression, especially targeting minorities, and linked it to a larger central conspiracy involving the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and possible detention camps. She warned that the BJP’s real agenda was to trifurcate Bengal through delimitation and change its demographic character. “Nineteen states and the Centre have ganged up against me, but I am fighting alone for the common people,” she told rally after rally, invoking “Joy Bangla” and urging voters to protect Bengal’s identity, federalism and Maa-Mati-Manush ethos from “divisive forces.” Banerjee also highlighted welfare schemes, accused the BJP of orchestrating scams and violence, and called for vigilance against EVMs and any attempt to rig the mandate.

“Is the PM running for the post of Chief Minister. How can he say that he is fighting in all 294 seats, thats jumla. He should first resign and then contest for this CM post. Will then fight him out”, Mamata Banerjee had issued open challenge to him. 

The women’s welfare narrative emerged as one of the sharpest flashpoints in the campaign. The BJP, through a promise unveiled by Amit Shah in mid-April, pledged ₹3,000 monthly financial assistance to women in Bengal if voted to power - positioned as a significant upgrade over the TMC’s existing Lakshmir Bhandar scheme of ₹1,500. The announcement gained fresh momentum when Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta declared that women in Bengal would soon enjoy the same benefits being rolled out in the national capital. The Trinamool Congress fired back immediately and effectively. Mamata Banerjee and her leaders repeatedly asked, in rally after rally, when the women of Delhi would actually start receiving the ₹2,500 monthly support that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised by March 8, 2025. With more than a year having passed and no disbursements made despite budget allocations, the TMC painted the BJP’s offer as classic “cash-before-election, bulldozer-after” politics and accused the party of failing its own promises on women’s empowerment.

The campaign also highlighted a striking contrast in star power. While the BJP fielded its entire central leadership - Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, several Union Ministers and Chief Ministers from BJP-ruled states - in a coordinated blitz across Bengal, the TMC drew support from key INDIA bloc allies. Aam Aadmi Party Convenor & Former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal addressed multiple high-energy rallies in Kolkata, Howrah and Beleghata, while Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav held roadshows in sensitive pockets such as Bhatpara and other areas of North 24 Parganas. Their presence underscored the opposition’s strategy of presenting a united front against the BJP’s aggressive push for change. Interestingly another stake holder of the INDIA bloc, Congress’ Rahul Gandhi while campaigning for Congress - that has decided to go solo in the Bengal polls, lashed out at Mamata Banerjee over alleged cases of corruption and questioned if there was any understanding under the table between. TMC and BJP as why  the central agencies had never questioned Mamata. Kejriwal has slammed Rahul Gandhi for weakening opposition and regional parties fighting against BJP. “Is he for BJP or against them” Kejriwal had questioned. 

As the din of rallies, microphones and choppers fades into the mandated silence, Bengal stands at a crossroads. Phase 2 on April 29 will decide whether Mamata Banerjee’s TMC can hold on to power or if Modi’s aggressive campaign delivers the “parivartan” the BJP has long promised. With counting scheduled for May 4, the next few days promise to be as tense as the campaign that just ended - one that will be remembered for its intensity, polarisation and the sheer scale of top-leadership involvement. The people of Bengal have spoken in Phase 1; on Wednesday, the rest of the state will have its say.