BJP Accuses Prashant Kishor’s Team of Meddling in Bengal Govt; TMC Denies Charge

The West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday accused poll strategist Prashant Kishor and his team of interfering with the work of state government officers and examining confidential files of various departments. The ruling Trinamool Congress and Kishor’s organisation, the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), denied the allegations in Kolkata.

The BJP’s allegations

After its setbacks in the Lok Sabha election, the TMC engaged I-PAC to rebuild its popularity before the 2021 assembly election. BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu alleged that Kishor and his colleagues were visiting government offices and, under the pretext of collecting public feedback, issuing instructions to officers and going through confidential files.

Basu said the BJP had no objection to the TMC taking Kishor’s advice, but asked whether I-PAC had been hired by the party or by the state government, and whether public funds were paying for it. He called the alleged interference “alarming and unacceptable” and said the party would raise the matter with the governor.

TMC’s response

State Parliamentary Affairs Minister and senior TMC leader Partha Chatterjee called the charges baseless and said no one was interfering with the government’s functioning. I-PAC officials also rejected the allegations.

On Kishor’s advice, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has started a helpline and a website so that people can contact the party directly with complaints and suggestions. The TMC has also started a large outreach drive in which over 1,000 party leaders will travel to 10,000 villages in the coming 100 days to hear people’s problems and address them.

What happened next

In the 2021 West Bengal assembly election, the Trinamool Congress won 215 seats and the BJP 77, and Mamata Banerjee remained Chief Minister.

See also: Bharatiya Janata Party and elections.

Originally published on 20 August 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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