Assembly Election 2026 Highlights: New BJP chief reviews poll preparations in 5 states at first strategy meet

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BJP national president Nitin Nabin will visit Durgapur in West Bengal on January 27 as part of his organisational outreach in the state. During the visit, he is scheduled to hold a series of meetings with the state leadership as well as leaders from various party fronts and district-level organisations. According to party sources, one of the meetings may also include discussions on the BJP’s position on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in West Bengal.

The Congress on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the BJP in Assam, claiming that while voters used to elect the government earlier, the ruling party now appears to be “selecting the voters.” The opposition party held a large workers’ meeting at Den Gaon in Karbi Anglong district, signalling the start of its election campaign in the hill region. The gathering was addressed by Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Gaurav Gogoi, former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, Assam Assembly Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia, and several other senior leaders, who rallied party workers ahead of the upcoming polls.

The BJP on Wednesday expressed confidence that it will form its first-ever government in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, aiming to defeat the ruling Trinamool Congress and DMK, respectively, in the upcoming assembly elections. In a statement, the party said reports from its state units, presented at a meeting chaired by BJP national president Nitin Nabin, indicate strong ground support. Based on these assessments, the party asserted that it is confident of dislodging the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal and the M K Stalin-led government in Tamil Nadu.
 

A day after assuming charge, BJP national president Nitin Nabin on Wednesday chaired a day-long meeting with party office-bearers to review organisational preparedness for the upcoming Assembly elections in five states, including West Bengal. During the meeting, Nabin asked party functionaries to strengthen the BJP’s grassroots presence and directed them to counter the Congress’s “negative campaign” against the VB-G Ram G Bill by intensifying outreach to highlight the benefits of the new rural employment guarantee scheme, sources said. He also reviewed the ongoing nationwide campaign aimed at rebutting the Opposition’s narrative against the scheme that replaced the UPA-era MGNREGA and offered suggestions to further sharpen the effort.

Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday claimed that had the West Bengal government implemented the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme, over 90 per cent of the state’s population would have been deprived of its benefits due to what he described as stringent eligibility conditions. Without directly referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent attack on the Trinamool government over the non-implementation of the central scheme during his recent visit to the state, Banerjee said Bengal’s own Swasthya Sathi health scheme was accessible to all as it came with no conditions.

"They claim that the Mamata Banerjee government has blocked the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Bengal. I want to tell people that you would be disqualified from the scheme if you own a smartphone or a TV, a motorcycle, a radio, or even if you have a concrete roof over your head. These conditions have been fixed by the Modi government," Banerjee said at the TMC Rana Sankalp Sabha (war resolve rally) in Purulia district. "But Swasthya Sathi comes with no such conditions, which is why its benefits are accessible to all," he said.

The Government of West Bengal will table its interim budget for the financial year 2026–27 on February 2, official sources said. 

Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi arrive at Indira Bhavan for a meeting with party leaders from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

CP Mallikarjun Kharge, LoP Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi and others to hold discussions with the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president, office bearers, and senior leaders. Discussion on seats sharing, demand of state leaders for power-sharing, alliance and preparations for the upcoming assembly election in the state.

AIADMK leader VK Sasikala on Monday strongly criticised senior party leader Vaithilingam for quitting the party, calling his decision “deeply regrettable” and a betrayal of the party’s legacy. In a statement, Sasikala said Vaithilingam, a former minister and MLA, had joined what she described as a “malevolent faction”, under the mistaken belief that it represented his parent party. She asserted that neither long-time party colleagues nor the people of his constituency would accept his move.

Tamil Nadu BJP leader K Annamalai on Monday raised serious concerns over the state of law and order under the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government, alleging a surge in drug-related violence across the state. Citing a recent incident in Ganapathi area of Coimbatore, Annamalai said a young man was brutally attacked by a group allegedly intoxicated on ganja, and was saved only due to the timely intervention of local residents. He claimed the incident was part of a wider pattern, referring to similar cases reported recently from Thiruthani, Velachery, and Coimbatore. Annamalai further alleged that repeated exposure of individuals linked to the DMK in narcotics cases explains the flourishing ganja networks and the rise in violent incidents in the state.

Nitin Nabin is set to hold his first meeting as the National President of the BJP. Among other things, the meeting will also discuss preparations for the upcoming assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry.

After meeting AMMK General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran, BJP's election in-charge for Tamil Nadu, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, says, "I am honoured and delighted that my good friend and senior leader TTV Dhinakaran has decided to come back to the NDA family."

(With inputs from ANI)

AMMK General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran met BJP election In-charge for Tamil Nadu, Piyush Goyal, on Wednesday after his party formally joined the BJP-led NDA ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly election.

TTV Dhinakaran's AMMK has now formally joined the BJP-led NDA ahead of the upcoming Assembly election in Tamil Nadu. Addressing a press conference, Dhinakaran said, "There is nothing in having a compromise. This is a new beginning, and we will strive to form a new governance in Tamil Nadu. We are starting towards that. I would like to say just a one thing, those who sacrifice have never gone down. As true followers of Amma (Jayalalithaa), we will all unite together and form governance."

AMMK Party General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran has arrived at the party headquarters in Chennai to hold a consultation meeting with the party's district secretaries.

Kerala minister MB Rajesh mocked the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the party leadership's ambition of making inroads into the state's political landscpe, saying "PM Modi has every right to dream. But his dreams won’t turn into a reality in Kerala. They won’t even be able to open account in Kerala for assembly. They had one MLA earlier. We closed it. They won’t be able to open that account again."

The remarks came after PM Modi on Tuesday boldly asserted that the BJP will form a government in Kerala in the upcoming Assembly election. He was addressing supporters on the day of Nitin Nabin's formal induction as BJP's National President.

In a scathing attack on the TMC and its supremo, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh says, "Mamata Banerjee does not respect any constitutional system; all constitutional systems are collapsing in Bengal. Courts are being challenged here. It is the job of the government, the police, and the state government employees to complete the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), but they are not doing so because Mamata Banerjee does not want the SIR to be conducted and the fake names to be exposed. Therefore, the Election Commission must ensure that the SIR is conducted with utmost care..."

With inputs from ANI

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked district magistrates of her state to strictly adhere to the Supreme Court's instructions on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, emphasising that people must not be harassed in the name of "logical discrepancies", a senior official cited by news agency PTI said.

She unexpectedly joined a meeting that was being chaired by Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty at state secretariat Nabanna with district magistrates on Tuesday, per the official.

"She made it clear that all hearings related to SIR must be conducted strictly in accordance with the apex court's directives. The CM specifically instructed officials to ensure that people are not put to inconvenience under the pretext of logical discrepancies," he said.