New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) Reacting sharply to Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee’s claim that the BJP will collapse and secure fewer than 50 seats in the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2026, former BJP MP Nisith Pramanik launched a scathing counter-attack.

Pramanik accused the party of fooling the people in 2021 with poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s tactics.

Speaking to IANS in Kolkata, Pramanik claimed, “The Trinamool, along with Prashant Kishor fooled the people of Bengal in 2021. The people of Bengal will not make the same mistake twice. In the 2026 elections, the people are ready to throw out the Trinamool and vote in huge numbers for the BJP.”

He further alleged that West Bengal was currently in a state of “anarchy and unrest,” asserting that the law and order situation had deteriorated under the Trinamool’s rule.

“The whole country is seeing the bad situation of West Bengal. Hindus are being targeted,” Pramanik claimed and added that, “I will say Bengali Hindus have woken up and are united. They will give a befitting reply to the Trinamool in 2026.”

On Mallikarjun Kharge’s recent remark aimed at his party MP Shashi Tharoor in which the Congress President slammed him for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi by stating that “for some people, Modi comes first” Pramanik declined to interfere in what he called an “internal matter” of the grand old party.

“Look, this is a matter concerning their party. What Kharge ji is saying about his party’s MP is their internal affair,” he said.

However, Pramanik did not hold back in his assessment of the Congress party’s current state.

“The Congress party which was there 20 years ago is completely broken at this moment. Any capable leader in Congress is suppressed, not respected, and that is why many are leaving the party,” he remarked.

Notably, Pramanik’s statements reflect the BJP’s sharpened narrative ahead of the 2026 elections, focussing on alleged Trinamool misgovernance, Hindutva and internal turmoil within the Congress as the saffron party eyes a stronger performance in Bengal this time.

–IANS

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