West Bengal CM Adhikari: TMC's 15-year rule left corruption in every sphere
Synopsis
West Bengal’s new BJP Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has put a number to the alleged corruption under TMC’s 15-year rule: 27 lakh ghost beneficiaries in a single welfare scheme, and 3 lakh men drawing benefits from a women-only programme. His warning that existing jails won’t suffice signals the scale of accountability action his government is signalling.
Key Takeaways
West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari on 7 June alleged that corruption permeated every sphere of governance during the TMC’s 15-year rule from 2011 to 2026.
Adhikari said existing correctional homes would be insufficient and floated the idea of a new jail at Brigade Parade Ground, Kolkata .
Of 2.20 crore Lakshmir Bhandar beneficiaries, 27 lakh reportedly had no entry in the voters’ list and 3 lakh were male, according to the Chief Minister.
The scheme has been replaced by Annapurna Yojana under the new BJP government.
Adhikari urged BJP workers to prioritise collective leadership, saying the party must work “unitedly” across 12 months of active state politics.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday, 7 June declared that corruption had penetrated every layer of the state administration during the 15-year Trinamool Congress (TMC) rule from 2011 to 2026, and that the full scale of the damage is only now becoming visible as his government digs deeper into governance. Adhikari made the remarks at a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) programme in New Town, on the northern outskirts of Kolkata.
Corruption Surfacing Across Administration
Adhikari said that with each passing day in office, his government was uncovering fresh instances of what he described as “rampant corruption” embedded in administrative functioning under the previous regime. He warned that the scale of wrongdoing was so extensive that existing correctional facilities in the state would be insufficient.
“The situation is such that there will be no place in the existing correctional homes in the state, and we will have to build a separate jail at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata,” Adhikari said, adding that his government remained “determined to fulfil the promises given in our election manifesto.”
Lakshmir Bhandar Scheme: A Case Study in Alleged Fraud
The Chief Minister cited the Lakshmir Bhandar monthly allowance scheme — a flagship welfare programme of the previous TMC government — as a concrete example of alleged corruption. After replacing it with the Annapurna Yojana, his administration reportedly found significant irregularities in the beneficiary rolls.
According to Adhikari, of the 2.20 crore beneficiaries listed under Lakshmir Bhandar, 27 lakh did not appear on the voters’ list, and approximately 3 lakh male beneficiaries were found to be receiving benefits under a scheme designed for women. These figures, as stated by the Chief Minister, suggest large-scale eligibility fraud under the earlier programme.
Call for Unity Within BJP
Beyond the corruption narrative, Adhikari used the occasion to stress the importance of collective leadership within the party. He reiterated a message he said he had delivered before: that governance and politics must be driven by “us” rather than “I.”
“We will have to work unitedly. Politics in this state lasts for 12 months. The politics here is different compared to other states. BJP’s ideology, the Prime Minister’s guarantee and people’s expectations should be given priority. We have to build strong relationships among ourselves,” he said.
Long-Term Governance Pledge
Adhikari also made a sweeping forward-looking pledge, saying that transparent governance by his administration would deliver benefits to the people of West Bengal for the next 50 years. The statement signals that the BJP-led state government intends to position its anti-corruption drive as a defining political identity heading into its tenure. How quickly it can translate these disclosures into prosecutions and policy reforms will determine whether the narrative holds.
Point of View
3 lakh male claimants in a women’s scheme — are politically explosive, but they are so far assertions from a podium, not findings of an independent audit. The BJP’s credibility on this narrative depends entirely on whether it produces verifiable documentation and initiates prosecutions rather than stopping at campaign rhetoric. West Bengal’s politics has historically been defined by incumbent-versus-challenger cycles of accusation; what would be genuinely different is a transparent, judicially-tested accountability process. The “we need a new jail at Brigade Parade Ground” line is vivid, but the harder question is whether the legal machinery can keep pace with the political ambition.
NationPress
23 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari say about corruption under TMC?
Adhikari alleged that corruption had seeped into every sphere of state administration during the Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule from 2011 to 2026, and that his government was uncovering fresh instances as it went deeper into governance. He made the remarks at a BJP event in New Town, Kolkata, on 7 June.
What irregularities were found in the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme?
According to Chief Minister Adhikari, 27 lakh of the 2.20 crore listed beneficiaries did not have their names on the voters’ list, and around 3 lakh male beneficiaries were found to be drawing benefits from the scheme, which was intended for women. The scheme has since been replaced by Annapurna Yojana.
Why did Adhikari mention building a jail at Brigade Parade Ground?
Adhikari used the remark to illustrate the alleged scale of corruption under the previous TMC government, saying that the number of people liable for prosecution would exceed the capacity of existing correctional homes in West Bengal. It was a rhetorical signal of intent rather than a formal policy announcement.
What is Annapurna Yojana and how does it differ from Lakshmir Bhandar?
Annapurna Yojana is the welfare scheme introduced by the new BJP-led West Bengal government to replace the TMC-era Lakshmir Bhandar monthly allowance programme. The Chief Minister said that the transition revealed significant beneficiary fraud in the earlier scheme, though a formal independent audit has not been publicly cited.
What message did Adhikari give to BJP workers at the New Town event?
Adhikari urged party workers to prioritise collective leadership over individual ambition, saying governance must be driven by ‘us’ not ‘I’. He stressed that West Bengal’s year-round political environment requires unity, and that the BJP’s ideology and the Prime Minister’s guarantees must remain central to the party’s work in the state.
