'BJP will be wiped out in West Bengal': Former state chief's warning as TMC's 'super crooks' get bail

Former Tripura Governor and ex-West Bengal BJP President Tathagata Roy has issued a stern warning to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), urging immediate action against corrupt Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders. Roy cautioned that failure to act decisively could lead to the BJP’s obliteration in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.  

Taking to Twitter, Roy expressed his frustration over the recent bails granted to TMC leaders Partha Chatterjee, Sandip Ghosh, and Abhijit Mondal. He also criticised the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for failing to file chargesheets within the mandatory 90-day period, calling the agency “impotent.”  

“As a former BJP leader, I am hard put to answer questions from the public who all accuse the BJP of ‘setting’,” Roy tweeted, referring to allegations of a covert understanding between the BJP-led Centre and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He added, “In the name of Ma Kali, say or do something! There’s just about a year left for the 2026 election to the state assembly! BJP will be wiped out!”  

The Supreme Court on Friday granted conditional bail to former TMC minister Partha Chatterjee in a money-laundering case linked to the alleged cash-for-jobs scam in West Bengal. However, Chatterjee remains in custody due to other cases linked to the same scam. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan ruled that Chatterjee would be eligible for release on February 1, 2025, upon furnishing bail bonds. "A suspect cannot be held in custody indefinitely... undertrial incarceration should not amount to punitive detention."  

Chatterjee, who served as a minister from 2011 to 2022, including as the education minister since 2016, is accused of facilitating illegal appointments of unqualified candidates to teaching and other education department posts. He is named in eight cases, with investigations led by the ED and the CBI.  

Similarly, Sandip Ghosh, former principal of RG Kar Medical College, and Abhijit Mondal, former officer-in-charge of Tala police station, were granted bail by a Sealdah court in the rape and murder case of an on-duty doctor. They were granted bail after the CBI failed to file a charge sheet against them within the mandatory 90-day period.

Junior doctor Aniket Mahato, a prominent voice in the protests following the doctor’s death, criticised the probe agencies, saying, “We are extremely disappointed with the pace with which the CBI is handling this case. The system has failed us, and the accused have been allowed to go free due to the sluggishness of the investigation. This delay in justice is a slap on the face of all those who have been fighting for accountability.”  

In the 2021 Assembly elections, the BJP made significant gains but failed to unseat Mamata Banerjee’s TMC. The party’s fortunes further dwindled in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with its tally falling from 18 seats in 2019 to just 12.