‘BJP can form govt even on Mars’: Sanjay Raut mocks poll claims, backs Mamata’s attack on Modi

The political temperature in West Bengal has spiked sharply ahead of the high-stakes Assembly elections, with Sanjay Raut jumping firmly into Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s corner and backing her explosive “infiltrator” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a blistering attack, Raut accused the Centre of orchestrating what he described as an “intrusion” into West Bengal’s governance, alleging that the Election Commission and the Union government were acting in tandem to interfere in the state’s administration.

“I have not personally heard exactly what Mamata Banerjee said. But given how the Prime Minister and the Election Commission are interfering in West Bengal, what else can one call it?” Raut said, sharpening the attack.

He went a step further, claiming that the appointment of officers from outside the state to key administrative posts signals an “emergency-like situation,” drawing parallels to the indirect imposition of President’s Rule. “There is an elected government. Yet, you are bypassing it. This is nothing but an intrusion,” he added.

Backing Banerjee’s anger, Raut framed her controversial “infiltrator” remark as a reaction to what he sees as aggressive central overreach in a politically sensitive state just weeks before polling.

But the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader reserved his sharpest sarcasm for the BJP’s electoral ambitions. “The BJP can form a government anywhere, in America, in Israel, even on Mars,” he quipped, dismissing the party’s claims of sweeping West Bengal.

The remarks come a day after Mamata Banerjee launched a no-holds-barred attack on Prime Minister Modi during an Eid gathering, accusing him of enabling voter deletions through the SIR process and branding legitimate voters as “infiltrators.” In a dramatic escalation, she declared Modi to be the “biggest infiltrator.”

Banerjee also questioned the Prime Minister’s foreign visits, alleging a pattern where “communal narratives” and voter scrutiny intensify after his return to India. “You shake hands abroad, but come back and divide people here,” she charged.

With West Bengal heading into a two-phase election on April 23 and 29, followed by counting on May 4, the rhetoric signals a bruising political battle ahead.

The contest is set to once again pit Mamata Banerjee against BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari in Bhabanipur, a rematch that could define the state’s political future.

As accusations of “infiltration,” “interference,” and “emergency-like rule” dominate the narrative, the Bengal poll campaign has clearly entered its most volatile phase yet.