TMC's counter-Chargesheet Targets Shah, BJP
By Kunal Chatterjee
KOLKATA: The political battle in Bengal intensified on Saturday after Union Home Minister Amit Shah released the BJP’s chargesheet against the Mamata Banerjee government, and the Trinamool Congress responded within hours with its own counter-chargesheet aimed squarely at Shah and the BJP. The TMC’s reply, led by state minister Bratya Basu, MP Mahua Moitra and former MP Kirti Azad, was built around a simple message: “Mota Bhai, we want answers.”
The BJP’s chargesheet alleged that the TMC government had failed on governance, law and order, corruption and border security. Shah also used the occasion to claim that Bengal had become a corridor for infiltration and accused the state government of not cooperating on fencing and security-related matters. The BJP presented the document as a public indictment of 15 years of TMC rule and tried to turn it into a major campaign weapon ahead of the state election.
The Trinamool’s counter-chargesheet was more direct and more personal. Without naming Shah, Bratya Basu said, “The people of the entire nation are witnessing what happens when a clown is seated in the judge’s chair,” while Mahua Moitra remarked, “A joker does not become a king simply by sitting on a throne; the royal palace merely transforms into a circus stage.” Their aim was clear: to project the BJP’s attack as hypocritical, theatrical and politically motivated.
Mahua Moitra accused Shah of releasing a chargesheet against the people of Bengal rather than just the state government, alleging that the BJP had branded Bengalis as Bangladeshis and Rohingyas and subjected them to harassment in BJP-ruled states. She said Bengalis had been “criminalised” in stages, first insulted, then deprived, then labelled criminals and finally harassed and charged that Shah was trying to distract attention from his own record.
Moitra also questioned the role of the Enforcement Directorate, saying it functions under Shah’s authority and is used overwhelmingly against opposition leaders. She cited what she described as nearly 6,000 ED cases since 2014, with 98 percent against opposition figures and only 25 convictions, calling the conviction rate extremely low. She contrasted that with the many pending FIRs against the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, and with the case involving former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh, arguing that powerful people in the ruling system remain untouched despite serious allegations.
Bratya Basu widened the attack beyond Bengal and said the BJP had no moral right to lecture the state on law and order while, by the Centre’s own reports, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan were among the most unsafe states for women. He accused the BJP of withholding Bengal’s dues, relying on the language of “infiltrators” and using the state as a political punching bag instead of addressing real governance failures.
He also raised questions on Manipur, Brij Bhushan, Unnao and Hathras, saying the BJP speaks loudly about Bengal but stays silent on crises in states it rules. Bratya claimed the BJP comes to Bengal to talk about demography and security while the country continues to face fears over blasts near the Red Fort and inside Parliament, and he asked who is accountable for the safety of tourists in Pahalgam.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said, “The chargesheet against the BJP government is already here and the hearing has also been finished by the people of Bengal. They are going to give the judgement on May 4, the day of the election results.”
According to senior political analyst, Sujit Chatterjee, “The TMC’s counter-chargesheet was not just a rebuttal, it was an attempt to seize the moral high ground. By focusing on Bengalis’ dignity, central agency use, women’s safety, pending state dues and alleged double standards, the party tried to shift the debate away from the BJP’s accusations and toward the BJP’s own record. That gives the counter-attack sharper political traction because it makes Shah’s chargesheet look less like a governance document and more like an election weapon.”
The larger strategy is clear. The TMC wants to frame the BJP as anti-Bengal, centralising, and hypocritical, while presenting itself as the defender of federal rights and Bengali identity. Whether every allegation lands equally with voters is a different question, but in political terms the counter-chargesheet was designed to blunt Shah’s offensive and force the BJP onto the defensive.
