Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, at a rally on Sunday in Mathurapur, South 24-Parganas, dared Union home minister Amit Shah to a public debate comparing the performances of the BJP-led Centre government and the Trinamool-led Bengal government.
The challenge came days after Shah, addressing a Parivartan Yatra rally from the same place, levelled a slew of allegations against Trinamool and appealed to voters not to support the ruling party of Bengal and prevent what he described as the consolidation of power in the hands of Mamata Banerjee’s family.
Abhishek accused the BJP of misrepresenting economic facts and of deploying constitutional institutions for political gains.
“He (Shah) stated that Bengal has a debt of ₹8 lakh crore and that if a child is born here, s/he would carry a debt burden of ₹77,000. But let me put forward the real picture. Before the Modi government came to power, the country’s debt was ₹56 lakh crore. Today, after 12 years, it has risen to ₹197 lakh crore. If a child is born in India now, s/he will bear a debt of ₹1.44 lakh. The onus of this lies on Narendra Modi and Amit Shah,” Abhishek said.
Despite what he termed the Centre’s financial deprivation of Bengal, the state government continued to transfer funds directly to beneficiaries under welfare schemes,
he said.
Countering Shah’s charges of lack of women’s safety in Bengal, Abhishek cited data released by the National Crime Records Bureau which he said presented a far more grim picture in several BJP-ruled states. “He stated they would make ‘Sonar Bangla’. But according to the NCRB report released in September 2025, BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh ranks first, Maharashtra second and Rajasthan third in cases related to crimes against women. In Uttar Pradesh, the number is 66,381, in Maharashtra it is 47,101 and in Rajasthan it is 45,450,” he said.
“When it comes to rape, Rajasthan ranks first, Uttar Pradesh second and Madhya Pradesh third. All BJP-ruled states. Even in terms of dowry deaths, Uttar Pradesh ranks first, Bihar second and Madhya Pradesh third. All are run by double-engine governments,” Abhishek said.
Abhishek referred to crime figures in Delhi, where policing is under the Union home ministry. “In 2023 alone, cases of crimes against women in Delhi stood at 13,366, which is the highest in the country. Mumbai comes second and Bengaluru third,” he said.
Abhishek also raised questions over the rise of Shah’s son in cricket administration, referring to the appointment of Jay Shah as chairman of the International Cricket Council and earlier as chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Accusing the Centre of depriving the state of financial assistance, he alleged that funds for several welfare programmes, including the rural housing scheme, the 100-day rural employment programme and the Jal Jeevan Mission, had been withheld, affecting livelihoods.
Abhishek dismissed the BJP’s much-publicised Parivartan Yatra rallies, linking what he described as low turnout to public resentment over the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the voter list.
“They came to Bengal to carry out SIR, but it seems the real SIR has taken place in their rallies. SIR has happened in the BJP. In their attempt to take away the rights of the people of Bengal, they have dug their own grave,” he stated, claiming that people are rejecting the BJP due to the SIR exercise.
“I have promised to bring their number down to 50 (in the 2026 Assembly elections),” he added.