May 24, 2026
Bengal is being ruled through looting: Mamata Banerjee speaks out on Facebook Live
All India Trinamool Congress Chairperson Mamata Banerjee has levelled allegations of vindictiveness against the new state government of Bengal. On Sunday, May 24, in a Facebook Live address to party workers, she accused the ruling party of not allowing Opposition-held municipalities and panchayats to function, and once again raised the issue of electoral fraud.
She said that Trinamool Congress did not lose the assembly election, but that the party was forcibly defeated. The Election Commission illegally helped Suvendu Adhikari and others win, with backing from the BJP’s central leadership.
Addressing Prime Minister Modi, she said, “Honorable Prime Minister, you have forcibly looted Bengal. Wins were turned into losses and losses into wins—the results were flipped in nearly 150 seats. Otherwise, we would have won 220 to 230 seats. If you had truly won, why is there no joy among the people?”
On the happenings at counting centre of her Bhowanipore constituency, she said, “You snatched the identity cards of our polling agents. I was leading by 13,000 votes.”
Directing her allegations at Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, Mamata Banerjee said, “I don’t like naming the person now sitting in power. We have known him for a long time. He himself sat and oversaw the looting. I was pushed out and thrown away. How did he win in Bhowanipore? I will tell the court. If you have the courage, get a forensic report done. We want an EVM audit report. The person now sitting in that chair was never meant to sit there. He came to power by looting votes. How will he understand people’s suffering?”
She added, “No state can run this way. Many are scared—some worry about their jobs, some about their businesses. Whenever Trinamool workers or leaders are seen, a few lumpen elements shout ‘thief’. These are not people of Bengal, they are outsiders. After coming to power, they are running bulldozers and snatching away people’s livelihoods. Separate jails have been set up for Trinamool workers. Two to two-and-a-half thousand of our workers have been arrested, street vendors’ livelihoods have been taken away, party offices have been demolished. I think he [Suvendu Adhikari] should go to jail first. From Saradha to Narada, where is he not involved? Everyone is being forcibly made to resign. The protector has become the predator. In 2011, we had asked for Rabindra Sangeet to be played. But this time, Rabindra Jayanti was not celebrated. They are arresting municipal councillors every day. The municipality is taking decisions about which neither the mayor nor the chairman have any idea. They are doing whatever they want to do by force, without resorting to any hearing. Elected bodies are not being allowed to function. Development works in major municipalities like the Kolkata Municipal Corporation—water supply, roads and other projects—are being obstructed. For the past 20 days, I have silently endured everything. Many people have been killed. Many have been forcibly made to resign. People are not allowed to work. I have also administered a government. I know what the administration does, what the party does, what the board does. In my time, thirty per cent of panchayats were with the Opposition. We did not forcibly shut them down. Since BJP was in power, they received all types of central security. For five years, they [BJP government at the Centre] withheld our funds. That is now clear.”
On the topic of the demolition of the statue outside the Yuva Bharati Stadium that she conceptualised and designed, the chairperson said, “I never broke Lenin’s or Stalin’s statues! They may have grievances against me. But young boys and girls, sports lovers, used to go there and take selfies. When the FIFA Under-17 was held, the visitors praised that statue. But it was smashed to pieces.
“I felt very bad—I had it made by an artist. I drew the logo myself. But did you demolish it just to instal your own statue? We built things, and you are destroying them. Today you come to power and build another statue—tomorrow when another party comes to power, they will come and break that one too. This culture is not good.”
On the INDIA alliance, she said, “We are trying to sit together in the first week of June. We will also speak with other anti-BJP parties. Various political initiatives will be taken up. We will go as far as it takes to unmask the BJP.”
To those who have switched parties, her message was: “Those who have been swept away by the floodwaters, let them go. Their leaving will cause no harm to the party. The BJP had planted them in Trinamool, and now they are returning to where they truly belong.”
On the use of microphones, Banerjee said, “You don’t want the azaan. So, set a limit on decibel levels. But make the rules same for everyone. You cannot take away anyone’s rights.”
On the election process, she said, “There was no logical discrepancy [as part of the SIR] in any state—here, 60 lakh names were deliberately removed from voter rolls. We fought and managed to restore 32 lakh names, but 27 lakh were still left out.
“Later, the BJP submitted another seven lakh names. On top of that, there was rigging. I have specific information that data hacking occurred from the office of the Election Commission of India. Many BJP workers entered counting centres dressed in CRPF uniforms.”
Addressing the Prime Minister, she asked, “Can you answer one question? Why have the prices of cooking gas and fuel risen? Prices were lowered before the elections and went back up the moment elections ended. But then, this is natural for the Modi government to do. People won’t buy gold, won’t travel by car, won’t go to restaurants. You will just spread terror and silence people’s voices.”
Criticising the PM’s foreign trips, she said, “How much fuel is being spent on all your foreign travels? The country’s economy is struggling, and you are handing out chocolates! Instead of giving chocolates to Italy’s Prime Minister, you could have given them to children. Children eat chocolates.”
The chairperson announced that she will now go live regularly on social media to convey her party’s message and the grievances of the common people, saying, “My weapon is Facebook. I will not speak to any media now. In the future, if I have something to say, I will say it through Facebook Live.”
She has already begun the process of strengthening the anti-BJP alliance, declaring, “I will fight. I will see which has greater power – India’s Constitution or the barrel of a gun!”
She further said, “They have stopped many things. In May, no one received Lakshmir Bhandar [a welfare scheme started by the Trinamool government]. They will give it for two or three months from the next month, and then darkness will reign.”
