A criminal record isn't a disqualifier — it can signal muscle.
As West Bengal prepares for its first phase of assembly voting on April 23, the state finds itself at the intersection of democratic aspiration and institutional strain — a national party pressing its campaign in tribal heartlands, an Election Commission asserting its authority against entrenched auxiliary forces, and candidate disclosures revealing that nearly a quarter of those seeking office carry declared criminal cases. The 2026 Bengal election is not merely a contest between parties but a test of whether the machinery of free and fair elections can hold its ground against the accumulated weight of money, influence, and fear.
- The BJP is mounting an aggressive push into Bengal's forested tribal belt, with Prime Minister Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh framing the election as a referendum on lawlessness and cultural erosion under Mamata Banerjee's government.
- The Election Commission has ordered auxiliary police forces — long accused of partisan deployment — confined to barracks three days before each voting date, a signal that it does not trust the ground conditions it is inheriting.
- The Supreme Court expressed open frustration that Bengal election disputes are arriving before it almost daily, and has now sought a High Court report on whether appellate voter-roll tribunals are even functioning ahead of the April 23 vote.
- The Enforcement Directorate arrested a Kolkata businessman for allegedly cultivating West Bengal police officers with expensive gifts in exchange for favors, deepening a probe that has already reached a sitting Deputy Commissioner of Police.
- Data from the Association for Democratic Reforms shows 23 percent of Phase II candidates have declared criminal cases — with BJP leading all parties at 72 percent of its own analyzed candidates carrying such disclosures — casting a long shadow over the ballot itself.
With West Bengal's first voting day just days away, the state presents a portrait of competing pressures: a national party campaigning hard, an election commission straining to reassert its authority, and a set of candidate disclosures that raise uncomfortable questions about who is actually on the ballot.
Prime Minister Modi traveled to Purulia to address a rally in the Junglemahal region, framing the election as a choice between development and what he called appeasement, accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's government of eroding Bengal's culture and failing its women, farmers, and youth. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, speaking the same day in Birbhum, promised a dedicated women's protection unit and the Seventh Pay Commission for state employees, and claimed industries were fleeing Bengal due to insecurity.
The Election Commission responded to the charged atmosphere with direct orders: no state or local government employee would be permitted to interfere in the process, and civic police, village police, and green police — forces long accused of partisan use — would be confined to barracks three days before each voting date. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar pledged elections free of fear, violence, and financial inducement. The two-phase election covers all 294 seats, with voting on April 23 and April 29 and counting on May 4.
The Supreme Court added another layer of uncertainty, announcing it would seek a report from the Calcutta High Court's Chief Justice after an advocate alleged that appellate tribunals for the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls were not functioning — turning away lawyers and accepting only computer-based applications. The court's Chief Justice made no effort to conceal his frustration at the near-daily stream of Bengal election matters reaching the bench.
The Enforcement Directorate meanwhile arrested Jay Kamdar, managing director of a Kolkata firm, on money laundering charges, alleging he had provided expensive gifts to West Bengal police officers and their families in exchange for favors in land disputes and complaint filings. A special court sent him to nine days of ED custody. The agency had also raided the premises of a sitting Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner as part of a broader probe into an alleged criminal syndicate.
The candidate data compiled by the Association for Democratic Reforms offered its own uncomfortable portrait: 23 percent of Phase II candidates have declared criminal cases, including 16 with declared murder charges and 80 facing attempted murder. The BJP leads all parties in such disclosures at 72 percent of its analyzed candidates, followed by CPI(M) at 51 percent, TMC at 35 percent, and Congress at 26 percent. Sixty-three of 142 Phase II constituencies qualify as red-alert zones. On wealth, TMC candidates average assets of Rs 5.05 crore, compared to Rs 3.28 crore for BJP.
On the margins, TMC MP Yusuf Pathan's father-in-law, son, and another relative were arrested in Mumbai after allegedly attacking a man and his family with bamboo sticks and baseball bats — a confrontation that reportedly began when the man's car splashed water on the group while passing through a pothole. Mumbai police identified the accused through CCTV and witness accounts; one person remains at large.
As April 23 approaches, the central question is whether the Election Commission's orders will translate into conditions that voters actually experience as safe — and whether the institutions meant to guarantee that safety are themselves trustworthy enough to deliver it.
With West Bengal's first round of voting just days away, the picture emerging from the state is one of competing pressures: a national party mounting an aggressive campaign, an election commission trying to reassert its authority, and a set of candidate disclosures that raise uncomfortable questions about who is actually on the ballot.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi traveled to Purulia on Sunday to address a rally in the Junglemahal region, a stretch of forested, tribal-majority districts that the BJP has been working to consolidate for years. His speech framed the coming election as a choice between development and what he called appeasement, and he accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's government of eroding Bengal's language and culture through unchecked infiltration, presiding over lawlessness in tribal areas, and failing women, farmers, and young people. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, speaking the same day in Birbhum's Sainthia, echoed those themes, promising that a BJP government would establish a dedicated women's protection unit he called the Durga Squad and implement the Seventh Pay Commission for state employees. Singh also claimed that industries and investors were abandoning Bengal because of insecurity and a hostile business climate.
The Election Commission, for its part, is clearly aware that it is walking into a charged environment. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar issued a direct message to poll officials on Monday, pledging that the commission would ensure elections free of fear, violence, intimidation, and financial inducements. He was explicit that no employee of the state government, local bodies, or autonomous bodies would be permitted to interfere in the process in any way. The commission also ordered that civic police, village police, and green police personnel — auxiliary forces that opposition parties have long accused the ruling party of deploying for partisan purposes — be confined to barracks three days before each voting date.
The two-phase election covers all 294 assembly seats, with voting scheduled for April 23 and April 29 and counting set for May 4. But even as the machinery of the election grinds forward, a separate legal dispute is complicating the picture. The Supreme Court said Monday it would seek a report from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court after a senior advocate alleged that appellate tribunals set up for the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls were not functioning — that lawyers were being turned away and only computer-based applications were being accepted. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court expressed visible frustration that Bengal-related election matters were being raised before the court almost every day.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate announced Monday that it had arrested Jay Kamdar, the managing director of a Kolkata firm called Sun Enterprise, on money laundering charges. The agency alleged that Kamdar had cultivated close relationships with West Bengal police officers, providing them and their family members with expensive gifts in exchange for favors in land disputes and the filing of complaints against individuals. A special PMLA court sent him to nine days of ED custody. The agency had also raided the premises of a Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner, Shantanu Sinha Biswas, as part of a broader probe into an alleged criminal syndicate.
The data on candidates running in Phase II tells its own story. According to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms, 338 of the 1,445 candidates analyzed — roughly 23 percent — have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits. Of those, 295 have declared serious criminal cases. Sixteen candidates have declared murder cases; 80 face charges of attempted murder. Among major parties, the BJP leads in criminal case disclosures, with 72 percent of its analyzed candidates carrying such declarations, followed by CPI(M) at 51 percent, TMC at 35 percent, and Congress at 26 percent. Sixty-three of the 142 constituencies in Phase II qualify as red-alert constituencies, meaning at least three candidates in each have declared criminal cases. On the wealth side, TMC candidates average assets of Rs 5.05 crore per candidate, compared to Rs 3.28 crore for BJP, Rs 1.22 crore for CPI(M), and Rs 1.04 crore for Congress.
On the margins of the Bengal story, a separate incident drew attention to TMC MP Yusuf Pathan. His father-in-law, son, and another relative were arrested in Mumbai's Byculla neighborhood after allegedly attacking a man and his family with bamboo sticks and baseball bats. The confrontation reportedly began when the man's car splashed water on one of the group while passing through a pothole. Mumbai police identified the accused through CCTV footage and witness accounts and made arrests under multiple sections of the IPC. One person remains at large.
With April 23 approaching, the question is whether the Election Commission's framework of orders and pledges will translate into conditions on the ground that voters actually experience as safe. The Supreme Court's intervention over the voter roll tribunals suggests that confidence in the process is not yet settled — and that the days between now and counting on May 4 will be closely watched.
Citas Notables
No employee of the state government, local bodies or autonomous bodies will be allowed to influence the electoral process in any manner.— Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar
Kamdar wielded considerable clout among a section of police officers and misused it for getting favours and lodging complaints against unsuspecting individuals in land-related matters.— Enforcement Directorate statement
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
The Election Commission is making a lot of promises. What's actually different this time?
The specificity is notable. Ordering auxiliary police into barracks three days before voting, naming inducements and booth-jamming explicitly — that's the commission trying to close loopholes that have been exploited before.
Why does the civic police order matter so much?
Because those forces sit outside the regular police chain of command. They're locally recruited, locally loyal. If a ruling party can direct them informally, they become a tool for voter intimidation without leaving a clean paper trail.
The criminal case numbers are striking. Seventy-two percent of BJP candidates with declared cases — does that surprise you?
It shouldn't, really. The ADR has been tracking this for years across all parties. What it reflects is that in many constituencies, a criminal record isn't a disqualifier — it can actually signal that a candidate has the muscle to deliver.
The ED arrest — is that election-related or a separate thread?
The timing makes it hard to separate. Raiding a sitting Deputy Commissioner of Police days before a major election in a state you're contesting is a significant act. Whether it's legitimate enforcement or political pressure, it lands in the same space.
Modi's Junglemahal rally — what's the strategic logic there?
The tribal belt has been a BJP target for years. It's an area where the party has made inroads by framing itself as the protector of indigenous communities against both the state government and demographic change. Purulia is symbolic ground.
The Supreme Court frustration over the SIR tribunals — what does that tell us?
That the legal scaffolding around this election is under strain. When the Chief Justice says matters are being raised before him almost every day, that's not a compliment to anyone managing the process.
What should a voter in Bengal actually be watching for on April 23?
Whether the polling stations feel like places where a person can walk in and vote without someone watching. That's the whole question, and it's one no affidavit or court order can fully answer in advance.