On February 4, 2026, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked into the Supreme Court of India not merely as a litigant, but as a political symbol. Unsurprisingly, this sparked off a lively controversy in social media and among the legal fraternity. Anyways, by personally appearing to argue her writ petition challenging the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, Banerjee blurred the boundaries between constitutional litigation and political theatre. Sitting chief ministers rarely intervene directly in apex court proceedings, and rarer still are those who choose to argue their own case. Whether legally effective or not, the gesture was unmistakably Mamata Banerjee: confrontational, emotive, deeply suspicious of authority, and rooted in a self-image as the last line of defence for her people.
The SIR challenge, however, cannot be understood in isolation. It is best seen as the latest chapter in a five-decade political journey that has oscillated between street protest and state power, moral rhetoric and pragmatic governance, populist welfare and institutional strain. Mamata Banerjee is neither a simple authoritarian nor a pure democrat; neither merely a populist nor a principled dissenter. She is a political paradox shaped by Bengal’s turbulent history, India’s evolving federalism, and her own relentless will.
Let us try and examine Mamata Banerjee’s career in its entirety—her rise, her governing philosophy, her achievements, her controversies, and the deeper significance of her Supreme Court confrontation with the Election Commission—without reducing her to either hero or villain.
The Supreme Court Challenge: Substance, Stakes, and Symbolism
The immediate trigger for Banerjee’s courtroom appearance was the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, initiated nationwide in 2025 but implemented with particular intensity in West Bengal. The exercise aimed to eliminate duplicate or ineligible voters while ensuring inclusion of all eligible citizens. In Bengal, this involved voter mapping, scrutiny of so-called “logical discrepancies,” and document verification.
Banerjee alleged that the process was fundamentally flawed in design and execution. According to her submissions, lakhs of voters were marked as “unmapped,” while over a crore entries were flagged for discrepancies, risking large-scale disenfranchisement. She cited cases of living individuals declared dead, migrant workers removed due to absence, and married women struck off due to address changes. Her sharpest criticism was reserved for the rejection of Aadhaar as valid supporting documentation, which she called arbitrary and discriminatory.
Beyond procedure, Banerjee framed the SIR as a political act. She argued that West Bengal was being singled out, questioning why similarly rigorous exercises were not visible in other states. After six unanswered letters to the Election Commission and a failed meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner in Delhi—one she walked out of, claiming disrespect—she chose the judiciary as her final arena.
The Supreme Court’s initial response was cautious but significant. It emphasised that no genuine voter should be excluded and issued notices to the Election Co
mmission and the state’s Chief Electoral Officer. The matter was scheduled for further hearing, keeping the legal outcome open.
Politically, however, the damage—or momentum—was already done. Banerjee had successfully reframed a technical electoral exercise into a larger narrative of democratic threat, federal imbalance, and institutional bias. This instinctive reframing has been the hallmark of her political life.
Origins: Hardship, Early Radicalism, and Political Formation
Born in 1955 in Kolkata to a modest family, Mamata Banerjee’s early life was marked by economic struggle. Her father’s death when she was seventeen—reportedly due to inadequate medical care—left a lasting imprint on her worldview. It nurtured a deep suspicion of elite indifference and institutional apathy, themes that recur throughout her politics.
Unlike many career politicians, Banerjee entered politics not through patronage but agitation. As a teenager, she organised student groups against the entrenched dominance of the Left in Bengal’s campuses. Her education—spanning history, Islamic history, education, and law—ran parallel to her political activism, not in place of it.
She joined the Congress in the 1970s, when opposing the Left in West Bengal often meant physical risk. Her reputation for fearlessness was established early, sometimes crossing into recklessness. Incidents like climbing onto Jayaprakash Narayan’s car during protests or her frequent confrontations with police built her image as a street fighter rather than a backroom negotiator.
National Ascent and Early Contradictions
Banerjee’s election to the Lok Sabha in 1984 from Jadavpur—at just 29—marked her arrival on the national stage. She became one of the youngest MPs in Parliament and quickly gained attention for her combative style. As a Union Minister of State under P.V. Narasimha Rao, she held portfolios including human resource development and youth affairs, but her relationship with party leadership was uneasy.
Her tenure as Railway Minister in later years revealed early contradictions that would follow her career: populist decision-making combined with administrative fragility. While she expanded connectivity and focused on passenger convenience, her railway budgets were criticized for poor fiscal discipline, leaving behind financial stress.
Her dramatic confrontation with a Samajwadi Party MP in the Lok Sabha over the Women’s Reservation Bill in 1992—where she physically grabbed his collar—cemented her image as an uncompromising advocate of women’s rights, but also as a politician unconstrained by parliamentary decorum.
Breaking Away: The Birth of the Trinamool Congress
By the late 1990s, Banerjee had grown disillusioned with the Congress, particularly its inability to challenge the Left Front in West Bengal. In 1998, she broke away to form the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), a move many dismissed as political suicide.
Yet this decision proved pivotal. Free from Congress’s central command, Banerjee crafted a party centred entirely around her personality and grassroots mobilisation. The TMC’s ideological flexibility—sometimes allying with the BJP-led NDA, sometimes opposing it fiercely—reflected Banerjee’s pragmatic rather than doctrinaire approach to politics.
Her brief alliance with the BJP ended amid corruption allegations and mutual distrust, reinforcing her self-image as politically homeless but morally uncompromising. From this point on, Banerjee positioned herself as an outsider battling entrenched power—whether Left or Right.
The Anti-Left Movement: Singur, Nandigram, and the Fall of a Regime
Banerjee’s defining political breakthrough came through her opposition to the Left Front’s industrial land acquisition policies. In Singur, her hunger strike against the Tata Nano project reframed development as dispossession. In Nandigram, protests against a proposed chemical hub escalated into violence, culminating in police firing that killed fourteen civilians.
These movements were messy, emotive, and often polarising. Banerjee’s allegations of state-sponsored violence and sexual assault were contested by the Left but resonated deeply with rural Bengal. She successfully turned the Left’s language of progress against itself, portraying it as authoritarian and anti-peasant.
The 2011 assembly elections marked a historic rupture. After 34 years, the Left Front was defeated, and Mamata Banerjee became West Bengal’s first woman Chief Minister. It was one of the most dramatic regime changes in post-Independence India.
Governance and Welfare: Achievements That Built Loyalty
As Chief Minister, Banerjee prioritised welfare delivery over grand industrial visions. Programs like Kanyashree, which incentivised girls’ education and delayed marriage, earned international recognition. Lakshmir Bhandar provided direct cash transfers to women, while Duare Sarkar took government services to citizens’ doorsteps.
These schemes were not merely populist giveaways; they were politically strategic. By centring women as beneficiaries, Banerjee reshaped Bengal’s electoral coalitions. Her emphasis on social dignity—rather than pure income growth—created a loyal base that survived anti-incumbency.
Her government also reversed land acquisitions in Singur, reinforcing her image as a protector of farmers. Yet this welfare-first model came at a cost: limited private investment, rising debt, and slow job creation.
Controversies and Governance Failures
Banerjee’s tenure has been repeatedly marred by allegations of political violence, corruption, and administrative breakdown. Post-poll violence in 2011 and 2021—particularly after her sweeping 2021 victory—damaged her democratic credentials. Courts ordered investigations, and some TMC leaders were convicted, though Banerjee herself escaped legal culpability.
Financial scandals like the Saradha and Rose Valley ponzi schemes further tarnished her government. While she was never formally charged, her proximity to accused party leaders and controversial art sales raised uncomfortable questions about accountability.
Law and order failures—from Sandeshkhali’s sexual violence allegations to the mishandling of high-profile rape cases—reinforced perceptions of selective governance. Critics accuse her of protecting loyalists; supporters argue she is targeted by central agencies and hostile media.
Persona and Political Style: The Double-Edged Sword
Mamata Banerjee’s greatest strength—her personal authority—is also her greatest weakness. She centralises decision-making, marginalises internal dissent, and governs through loyalty rather than institutions. This ensures control but weakens long-term governance capacity.
Her emotional rhetoric, while galvanising, often escalates conflict. Whether confronting the Centre, the Left, or constitutional bodies, Banerjee instinctively frames disputes as existential battles rather than policy disagreements.
The SIR Challenge in Context: Continuity, Not Exception
Seen in this light, Banerjee’s Supreme Court challenge to the Election Commission is not aberrational but entirely consistent with her political DNA. When institutional engagement fails, she personalises the struggle. When power appears distant, she brings it face-to-face.
Supporters see this as democratic vigilance; critics see it as institutional erosion.
Conclusion: Mamata Banerjee as India’s Last Mass Politician
At 71, Mamata Banerjee remains one of India’s most singular political figures. She has outlived the Left, resisted the BJP’s expansion in Bengal, and reshaped welfare politics through gender-centric programs. Yet she has also presided over violence, controversy, and institutional fragility.
Her legacy is neither purely emancipatory nor merely authoritarian. It is, instead, profoundly Indian: messy, emotional, contradictory, and deeply rooted in lived political struggle. The Supreme Court episode is not the end of her story—but a mirror reflecting everything she has always been.
Whether history judges her as a defender of democracy or its disturber will depend not just on outcomes, but on how India itself chooses to balance power, protest, and institutional restraint in the years to come.
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