A sharp war of words erupted on Monday between West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after the BJP leader publicly advised his predecessor to remain at home and declared he would ensure she could not step out onto the streets. The remarks, made during a press conference at the state secretariat Nabanna, drew a fiery response from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson, who described them as a “new low” in Indian politics and an open threat of confinement.
The exchange unfolded against the backdrop of growing tension over the Annapurna Yojana, the state scheme promising Rs 3,000 monthly assistance to eligible women. Earlier in the day, Banerjee had used a Facebook Live session to criticise alleged delays, reductions in beneficiaries, and claims that eligibility was being assessed on the basis of religion or community. She also asserted that no one could stop her from holding public meetings or meeting affected families, declaring that the TMC’s fight would continue until the BJP was forced into “political sanyas.”
Responding later at Nabanna, Adhikari took a direct swipe at Banerjee. “You should stay only on Facebook in the afternoon. You don’t need to go out on the road. I will also make arrangements so that you cannot go out on the road”, he said
Banerjee hit back the same evening with a detailed post on X (formerly Twitter). “A NEW LOW in Indian politics! @SuvenduWB, while seated in a government office, has brazenly THREATENED me, publicly declaring that he will ensure I cannot even leave my home,” she wrote. “I call upon the Hon’ble President of India, the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, and the people of India: Is this the India envisioned by our Constitution? A sitting Chief Minister, sworn to uphold that very Constitution, openly threatens to curtail the freedom of the Chairperson of the principal opposition party, @AITCofficial. The words were unambiguous: ‘I will ensure you cannot leave the house.’ What exactly does that mean? House arrest? Intimidation? Political persecution? Who gave you the authority to decide who gets to move freely in a constitutional democracy?”
She continued: “Perhaps he is confusing me with those known to bow before authoritarianism. That, I must say, is a grave misreading. This is bigger than Mamata Banerjee. This is about the kind of India @BJP4India wants to create – where political opponents are threatened, dissent is punished, and constitutional rights become privileges granted by those in power. INDIA IS WITNESSING A DANGEROUS AUTHORITARIAN MOMENT. And history offers one enduring lesson: power may intimidate for a while, but arrogance eventually answers to the people. Their arrogance is loud. Their desperation is louder. Their days are numbered.” Banerjee also shared a video clip of Adhikari’s comments.
The latest confrontation is not isolated. Since the BJP assumed power in West Bengal following the 2026 Assembly elections - ending the TMC’s 15 year rule - Banerjee’s Kalighat residence on Harish Chatterjee Street has repeatedly become a focal point of police deployments that the TMC has described as attempts to restrict her movement.
In early July 2026, heavy contingents of state police, central forces, barricades and multiple vehicles were stationed outside her home overnight and into the next day. TMC leaders, including MLA Kunal Ghosh, Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien and Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra, alleged the deployment was designed to prevent Banerjee from travelling to Baruipur in South 24 Parganas to meet the family of an 11-year-old girl who had been allegedly raped and murdered. Moitra termed it “house arrest” for a three-term former chief minister and seven-term MP. Banerjee herself questioned why the roads around her residence had been flooded with police, claiming the arrangement amounted to confining her. The BJP and state administration described the presence as routine security.
Earlier, on 9 June 2026, a 30-member CID team, accompanied by Kolkata Police and central forces, arrived at the same residence while Banerjee was in Delhi. The visit formed part of an investigation into the “Signgate” controversy involving alleged forged signatures of TMC legislators. A 45-minute standoff ensued before officers entered the party office adjoining her home; the search lasted over 100 minutes and yielded a “nil” seizure list. Neighbours described the sudden transformation of the once-open street into a heavily policed zone.
These episodes sit within a broader pattern of friction. Shortly after the May 2026 results, peripheral security infrastructure and barricades that had long managed public access to the lane were scaled down or removed, restoring free movement for residents. Subsequent incidents - ranging from the temporary withdrawal of long-serving personal security officers in mid-June to the installation of blue fencing after egg-pelting attacks on TMC leaders - have kept the residence under political and security scrutiny.
Adhikari’s Monday comments and Banerjee’s constitutional appeal have now elevated the personal rivalry that has defined Bengal politics since he left the TMC for the BJP in 2020, defeated her in Nandigram in 2021, and later captured power in the state. With Banerjee continuing to mobilise on welfare delivery and permission for public programmes, and the government insisting on administrative control and law-and-order priorities, the verbal clash is likely to intensify the already charged atmosphere in the state.
