BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament, on February 4, 2026. Photo: Sansad TV via PTI
On a day when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee argued in the Supreme Court against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) currently underway in 12 States, including her own, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) sparred in the Rajya Sabha over issues ranging from the State government’s alleged indifference toward Centrally sponsored schemes to road markings being painted in the TMC’s colours of white and blue instead of the universal yellow and black.
The BJP’s West Bengal unit chief and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya on Wednesday (February 4, 2026) launched a scathing attack on the TMC-led State government, accusing it of failing to implement several Central social welfare schemes, including the Ayushman Bharat, due to “vendetta politics”.
Parliament Budget Session Day 6: Follow the updates from February 4, 2026
“Today, poor and marginalised people of West Bengal are deprived of benefits due to the vendetta politics being carried out by the TMC government,” Mr. Bhattacharya said. He accused the State government of blocking multiple social welfare schemes, calling it “a direct attack on the federal structure of the country”.
Speaking minutes later, TMC MP Samirul Islam opened his Zero Hour intervention by asserting, in Bangla, that “anyone speaking in Bangla is put in detention camps”. He urged the Parliamentary Standing Committee to study how many Bangla-speaking Indians had been “pushed to Bangladesh”.
Amid loud protests from BJP members, Mr. Islam insisted that migrant workers were not mistreated in the State. “There are 1.5 crore people from other States working in West Bengal. Is there a single instance of them being harassed?” he asked.
Later, during Question Hour, Mr. Bhattacharya alleged that road markings in West Bengal were being painted white and blue instead of the prescribed black and yellow. He asked the Minister of Road Transport and Highways whether any audit or inspection had been conducted to verify compliance with colour standards.
Responding to the question, the Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Harsh Malhotra said such violations would attract punitive action, adding that they could compromise commuter safety. Extensive audits should be followed by appropriate action, he said. Mr. Bhattacharya rose again to claim that the number of road accidents in the State was also rising.
Published – February 04, 2026 11:00 pm IST
