TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said anti-incumbency in West Bengal, which was localised, has largely been obscured by the fallout of the SIR exercise, giving the party a distinct edge over the BJP in the upcoming assembly elections. "The BJP's agenda was to use the SIR process to defeat Mamata Banerjee and capture West Bengal by any means possible, since she has been continuously defeating the saffron party for the last 15 years. If there was any local-level anti-incumbency brewing at all, that has been completely obscured by the SIR exercise. Sabina Yasmin, mother of another alleged TMC violence victim Tamanna Khatun, has entered the poll fray as a CPI (M) nominee. "During my days as a journalist, I had little idea about the extent of disinformation that gets spread about West Bengal.

Source: The Telegraph March 22, 2026 10:48 UTC