TMC has complained to the Election Commission of India against BJP over the launch of the ‘Matrishakti Bhorsa Card’ ahead of West Bengal polls. The party alleges electoral bribery and voter inducement targeting women, seeking action under the Representation of the People Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and demands immediate discontinuation of the scheme reports.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday had complained to the Election Commission of India (ECI) against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for launching Matrishakti Bhorsa Card ahead of the polls scheduled for next week.
“We have written to @CEOWestBengal and @ECISVEEP, demanding immediate action against BJP’s electoral bribery. Suvendu Adhikari, Smriti Irani, and other BJP leaders have launched a scheme called “Matrishakti Bhorsa Card,” promising financial assistance to women, distributing forms across constituencies in the final days before polling. This is textbook voter inducement, targeting economically vulnerable women at the most sensitive stage of the electoral process. It constitutes corrupt practice under Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and criminal offences under Sections 61(2), 173, and 174 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. We demand show cause notices, immediate discontinuation of the scheme, and stringent action against all those involved. BJP cannot buy Bengal’s women. They have Lakshmir Bhandar. They do not need BJP’s bribe,” wrote TMC on X.
We have written to @CEOWestBengal and @ECISVEEP, demanding immediate action against BJP’s electoral bribery.
Suvendu Adhikari, Smriti Irani, and other BJP leaders have launched a scheme called “Matrishakti Bhorsa Card,” promising financial assistance to women, distributing forms… pic.twitter.com/3D1ryU91KP
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) April 16, 2026
TMC MLA and minister Shashi Panja questioned why women of the state will need ‘Matrishakti Bhorsa’ when they have ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’.
Notably, Olympic medallists Leander Paes and Vijender Singh Beniwal on Thursday had launched Yuva Shakti Card in Kolkata.
