BJP violating model code by introducing Matrishakti: CM Mamata Banerjee
Telegraph | 16 April 2026
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused the BJP of violating the model code of conduct (MCC) currently in force in poll-bound Bengal for launching the “Matrishakti Bharosa Card” as a part of its promise to introduce a monthly assistance scheme for women.
“They are violating the election code (model code) and have introduced a card. The Union finance minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) herself has launched it, and I appeal to the Election Commission to take steps against her,” Mamata, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, said at a public meeting in Islampur, North Dinajpur.
Earlier in the day, former BJP minister Smriti Irani and Bengal's leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, launched the card. If the BJP is voted to power, women in Bengal who have this card will get a monthly assistance of ₹3,000, double that of what Lakshmir Bhandar, the Trinamool government's flagship scheme, provides.
“They are misusing power. Why didn’t they launch the card earlier? Why do it now? It is only because of the elections. Later, they will not provide any assistance. It is simply an empty promise,” Mamata said.
Mamata also accused the BJP of getting the names of genuine voters deleted through the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll.
“I went to the Supreme Court, and it is because of my intervention that 32 lakh names were later included (on rolls). You should take ‘badla (revenge)' for the SIR. Also, once our government is formed, we will ensure that all such genuine voters, whose names have been deleted, are included in the voter list,” she said.
Mamata, campaigning for her party's candidates contesting from North Dinajpur, also underscored the initiatives that her government has taken for the tea population.
“We have reopened some tea estates, provided land rights and free houses to the tea workers, and revised their wages. In due course, land rights will be provided to all the workers, and the wage rate will also be increased. We will also take steps against tea companies which have not cleared provident fund dues of workers,” Mamata said.
In north Bengal, the tea population swings the results of 10 to 12 Assembly seats. In the 2021 Assembly polls, the BJP won most of these seats.
Later in the day, Mamata led a road show on the Hill Cart Road in Siliguri in support of the party’s candidates Gautam Deb (Siliguri), Shankar Malakar (Matigara-Naxalbari) and Rina Toppo Ekka (Phansidewa).
From Siliguri, she headed for Chalsa in Jalpaiguri.
Youth held
A youth breached security barricades and rushed toward Mamata Banerjee during her road show in Chalsa, Jalpaiguri, around 5pm on Wednesday.
Mamata was walking from Mangalbari Haat towards Chalsa More with other Trinamool Congress leaders, greeting people who had been lining both sides of the road, when a 28-year-old man suddenly broke through police barricades on the right side, ran toward her and attempted to touch her feet.
Mamata halted for a moment. Security personnel immediately restrained him and handed him over to the police.
Security arrangements were intensified and Mamata resumed walking and greeting people. The detained youth said he was a Trinamool supporter. Police are questioning the motive behind his sudden action, said sources.
Additional reporting by our Jalpaiguri correspondent