Check PM Modi's car, CM dares EC over ‘selective’ vehicle checks ahead of Bengal polls
Telegraph | 16 April 2026
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday threw a fierce challenge to the allegedly compromised Election Commission, demanding that it extend its zealous vehicular inspection drive, apparently intended only for those affiliated to the Trinamool Congress, to the convoys of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah as well.
Addressing yet another high-octane campaign rally at Islampur in North Dinajpur on the morning of Poila Baisakh, the Trinamool Congress supremo tore into the "selective" nature of the ongoing security checks ordered by the poll watchdog, revealing that her own vehicle had been targeted by central forces near the Calcutta airport earlier in the day.
"At the Dum Dum Airport, central forces came near my vehicle. I told them to check my vehicle. If vehicles of all Trinamool leaders are checked, why should the Prime Minister’s and the Union home minister's vehicles move around unchecked? Central forces' vehicles should also be checked. Will only Trinamool be targeted?" she asked.
Mamata’s challenge follows widespread reports — bolstered by purported WhatsApp screenshots released by the Trinamool leadership — that the EC issued specific directives to flying surveillance teams to subject the vehicles of key state ministers, besides Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee and his family, specifically his wife Rujira Narula, to intensive scrutiny.
On Tuesday, her party drafted a formal complaint to chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, tearing into the EC's "biased conduct" and alleging that senior officials spearheaded "illegal" directives aimed at crippling the Trinamool campaign.
The complaint contends that specific instructions were issued to target and search the vehicles of Trinamool leaders, including Abhishek, and their families.
Attaching purported WhatsApp screenshots as evidence, the party claimed that its outreach and campaign activities are being systematically obstructed.
Trinamool leaders have contended that the EC's directives, circulated via messaging platforms, are aimed at disrupting their campaign trail under the guise of election-time security enforcement.
"I know all that is going on.... Union ministers are bringing cash in vehicles of the central forces. What is going on in this country? If you have the guts, check my vehicle every day. We are not looters like the BJP," Mamata said.
Mamata linked this to her broader message to the people of Bengal on Poila Boishakh or the Bengali New Year earlier in the day on social media. Marking the occasion, Mamata issued a message in Bengali, urging voters to give a befitting democratic reply to the jomidar (feudal lords) from Delhi.
“This New Year, resolve to break the walls of narrow-mindedness and unite against divisive and authoritarian forces,” she said on social media, appealing to voters to uphold their democratic rights by casting their ballots for her party.
Mamata has repeatedly said that the special intensive revision of electoral rolls was used to selectively delete the names of legitimate voters likely to vote for her.
She reminded the Islampur rally that her legal fight in the Supreme Court had already ensured the retention of 32 lakh voters after the adjudication stage, promising that if returned to power, her government would ensure no legitimate citizen remained off the rolls.
Mamata alleged that the EC’s conduct compromised the fairness of polls and made it clear that she viewed the current security crackdown as the BJP's tactical manoeuvre to unethically tilt the scales in its favour.
“The BJP has brought the entire Union government machinery to fight against us. The BJP has come to burn Bengal. They have given instructions to arrest Trinamool workers and leaders. If you arrest one Trinamool worker, we will arrest thousands from your camp. Our women will build our resistance," she said.