It’s going a lot faster in West Bengal today. In fact, only a few days after the political world was turned upside down, the legal dominoes have begun to tumble. Now the spotlight is squarely on Trinamool Congress big wigs Abhishek Banerjee. He was issued with a First Information Report. The core charge? Speaking with a highly provocative tone in the frantic and polarized end game of 2026 assembly election campaign
It was virtually impossible to register a criminal case against the TMC General Secretary for years. Politically, in the state, it just wasn’t in the cards. All that arithmetical skill is lost. Suvendu Adhikari just took the oath as the state’s first BJP Chief Minister. The whole administration is in the process of an enormous and speedy rebalancing. It’s a live thing to watch. The police are now responding to complaints that were earlier buried or ignored only a month ago
This comment was not even from an opposing party politician. On May 5, a local social activist, Rajib Sarkar, went into the Baguiati Police Station. The results of the election were not yet even one day old. It was only just after the dust had cleared! However, Sarkar made a huge pile of allegations about the speeches he delivered on April 27 through May 3. He didn’t merely whine. He passed on real-time video feeds of several public rallies.
Attacking the Cyber Crime Docket for Decryption!
The police didn’t act immediately. They waited for ten days on the papers! Perhaps they had waited for the new government to come to power. Perhaps they were talking to lawyers… Later the FIR was officially filed by the Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police Station on Friday afternoon at about 2.45 PM. It’s weighty and daunting. They were virtually heaping scorn on him.
The charges are based on the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. They slapped Banerjee with Section 192 – inciting public unrest. The charge is bailable and is one of the following charges: The other ones are much more serious and threatening, though. The section specifically refers to the spreading of animosity and hatred between religious or social groups which is referred to as Section 196. That is non-bailable.
The police also invoked Section 351(2). That’s criminal intimidation and threats that can bring social harmony to an end. They even added on to Section 353(1)(c) for allegedly spreading false, misleading information and rumour to the public. If you go on to commit a couple of career threatening offences under Sections 123(2) and 125 of the Representation of the People Act, then you have a legal conundrum on your hands.
Now, sub-Inspector Somnath Singha Roy is in charge of the investigation. He will have a lot of work to do. He has to watch hours of aggressive and loud campaign video. The crux of the grievance is against Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his fiery speech. The campaign journeys in Bengal tend to be extremely hard. The text is very raw. Tempers flare. However, the police are now officially claiming that Banerjee went over the line from normal political grandstanding into criminal intimidation.
The Campaign Trail in the Context
Let’s fast-forward to the end of April.Let’s fast forward to the end of April. The election was running at a fever pitch. Already there was a huge political confrontation in Falta regarding the need for a rerun. Banerjee was out there throwing down fresh challenges to the BJP on a daily basis. The crowds were huge. The energy was totally unhinged. The TMC was in a desperate battle to maintain a state that had been under their control for more than 10 year
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In that frantic going to ground battle, that’s what the microphones capture. The complaint also states that during these “events,” Banerjee was using very aggressive and threatening language against the opposition workers. This was more than just a passing remark. Sarkar’s charge is a rationalized description of the multi-day campaign to terrorize the opposition and stir up loyalists. That’s another matter for a judge. However, paperwork has been filed. Machinery is moving.
A Shifting Atmosphere and the Fear Factor
It’s a matter of timing in this entire scenario. It’s all about the timing.
The Trinamool Congress is still reeling from a shocking, crushing election defeat. Banerjee has been quite vocal on social media in the past few days, as he pulls no punches in alleging massive foul play. He was adamant that almost 30 lakh voters had been removed from the electoral rolls in a systematic manner. He publicly denounced the Election Commission and other state bodies for being “a pro-government wing” of the new government. The TMC is in a very defenseless position. Now their second-in-command is facing serious, non-bailable criminal charges.
The BJP is hardly keeping quiet about the development. They’re running a long winning streak, their leaders. The newly appointed Minister of Panchayat and Rural Development Dilip Ghosh characterized the FIR as a “sure indication of civic liberation. He firmly said that common people were once afraid to raise their voice against the leadership of TMC. Today, the anxiety is said to have dissipated. The people are now ready to complain, Ghosh said, and more important, the state police are ready.
It’s a sinister circular process in state politics. When there is a lot of opposition, the government is the opposite. The established old government is the hunted and the hunted is the insurgent.
The looming legal battle.The impending legal battle.
Banerjee will not take it down without a fight. His lawyers are definitely working around the clock, trying to find ways to vigorously confront the FIR. They are most likely trying to get an immediate bail or anticipatory bail in the high court. Might try to say it’s a textbook example of a political vendetta orchestrated by a vendetta-seeking new administration. It’s an entirely obvious line of defense. But predictable doesn’t mean ineffective. It often works.
