Amit Shah may be shy about it .... but by default the state of West Bengal is possibly heading for President's Rule

 

Home Minister Amit Shah may be shy about it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi may still not approve but by default the state of West Bengal is possibly heading for a spell of President's Rule. 

The ball has been set in motion by the Supreme Court. In a near historic verdict; the apex court ordered Calcutta High Court to appoint judicial officers including retired onez to oversee the ongoing SIR exercise in the state. This was an utmost no confidence expressed on the functioning of the Mamata Govt.

In a way: the court expressed anguish on the role of the state govt. and the way the TMC has opposed SIR.

The court has fixed Feb 28 as the last date to publish West Bengal electoral rolls. As of now things look impossible as over 1 crore alleged discrepancies have been reported. 

In all probability; if an extension is granted; roadmap will be created to delay much talked about Bengal polls. 

Hence if a government is not formed in the state by midnight of May 6, President's Rule gets automatically imposed.

In retrospect; analysts say Mamata Banerjee herself has created this trap for her and her party. Eminent Kolkata based journo Sumon Chattopadhyay says - Mamata already looks nervous and it was this lack of confidence that made her turn into a lawyer in the Supreme Court.

But to her setback; the apex court said SIR process ought to be completed.

"Mamata deliberately planned to stage a high drama in Delhi. Her plan was a diversionary tactic to steer attention away from allegedly ongoing administrative failures and irregularities related to the SIR. 

But it has boomeranged," says local BJP leader P K Bhowmick in Jadavpur area. 

In recent times, Bengal BJP leaders like Suvendu Adhikari and Samik Bhattacharya have been blaming the Mamata government for "administrative failures", which they claim led to the harassment of people at SIR hearing centres, leading many to wonder if the poll roll revision exercise has actually backfired on TMC itself.

Already on average several key constituences have seen deleting of about 19 lakh voters. TMC won about 100 assembly seats in 2021 with a margin less than 25,000. For its part, BJP won 62 such segments. Hence, the SIR exercise has left Mamata Banerjee nervous in more ways than one. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Dec 2025 had alleged that the EC pushed the SIR of electoral rolls as part of  “Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s trick” to create panic, claiming that had her government blocked the exercise, the Centre would have imposed President’s Rule in the state.

West Bengal has come under President's rule on four occasions, all between 1968 and 1977. 

The TMC chief claimed that more than half of those who died in SIR-linked incidents across the country were Hindus.

The TMC supremo also reiterated that she would never allow NRC or detention camps to come up in West Bengal.

“I will not allow NRC or detention camps in Bengal. Even if they slit my throat, no one will be driven out,” she declared to loud applause.

“If anyone is removed, we will bring them back legally. Bengal will remain safe and inclusive,” she said. But too much of bravado has actually sown the seeds of political blunders by the merculean leader. 

In Mamata Banerjee-ruled Bengal, the BJP believes the contest transcends routine electoral arithmetic. For the saffron party, it is a battle to “protect civilisational values.” Over the last decade, the BJP has steadily worked to make its ideological triad—Hindu-Hindi-Hindustan—socially acceptable across large swathes of India. 

The success in municipal politics in Mumbai is cited internally as proof that slogans once dismissed as regional—like “Jai Shri Ram”—now carry national resonance. The BJP may add - another slogan - Jai Ma Kaali in Bengal. 

Ends