West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress Party she leads is fighting a tough electoral battle against the Bharatiya Janata Party with help from the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar who is acting like a flunky of the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah government in New Delhi, and who is being backed by the Supreme Court of India. While there are strong anti-incumbency sentiments against the state government, Mamata Banerjee she still commands the support of large sections of women and Muslims, especially in rural areas. At the same time, she has changed her image of being a Muslim appeaser.
The unprecedented manner in which the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter roll in West Bengal is taking place could influence the electoral outcome. These are some of the views expressed by Jawhar Sircar, former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament and a retired officer of the Indian Administrative Service, in an exclusive interview with Paranjoy Guha Thakurta that was recorded on 26 February 2026, two months before the elections.
