For the past few days, social media is fraught with reels of tired, distressed women talking about the fleeing maids of Gurgaon. “Where are the maids of Gurgaon”, “where have the maids of Gurgaon gone”, “there are hardly any Swiggy, Zomato pick ups, what’s going on”, “Pronto, Urban Company – why are there no slots for Insta Maids” – these are some of the exasperated questions which one is reading everywhere. In fact, even Instagram is full of reels with women and men alike discussing the issue.
These are only some of the videos ruing the loss of their prized househelps.
So, where have the maids of Gurgaon gone? Does it have anything to do with 2026 West Bengal Elections?
We spoke to several maids who were leaving Gurgaon and women employers who were suffering the consequences of the househelp fleeing. The revelations were shocking.
The first obvious pattern was that most of the maids fleeing were natives of West Bengal, speaking in chaste Bengali and broken Hindi. In fact, it would not be a stretch to say that some of them were possibly from Bengalis from West Bengal, but Bangladesh, a fact evident from their different accents.
The second obvious pattern was that an overwhelming majority of the maids fleeing Gurgaon were Bengali Muslims.
The two unmissable patterns emerged only a few days before the West Bengal Assembly Elections, the first phase of which is set to be held on the 24th of April 2026. In conversation with OpIndia, the househelps leaving Gurgaon revealed that they were leaving for West Bengal to vote in the ongoing Assembly Elections.
Are Muslim maids of Gurgaon leaving to vote in West Bengal Elections out of their own free will? Are they being threatened by TMC?
The expected reasoning to explain thousands of people leaving to vote in the West Bengal elections would be that they were conscientious citizens who believe in fulfilling their constitutional duty and exercising their right to vote. But as is with most things concerning West Bengal, there is more than meets the eye.
Several househelps fleeing Gurgaon to vote in the Bengal Assembly Elections revealed to OpIndia that they were all getting calls from their local TMC party worker impressing upon them the need to vote in the ongoing elecctions. “Voting this time is important, even if you can’t vote next time. You have to come this time”, the maid claimed she was told by her area’s TMC worker.
They claimed that the local TMC worker had told them that if they don’t vote in these elections, their land could possibly be taken away and their house could be demolished. The local TMC workers further told them that if BJP came to power this time in Bengal, they would be taken to the Bangladesh border and either be shot or pushed into Bangladesh.
A maid, distraught, told us that they were Bengalis and not Bangladeshis, but the TMC was scaring them that they would meet the same fate because they were Muslims.
“I don’t know why they are so desperate this time, didi. They are scaring us and forcing us to come back”, one woman working as a househelp said. “They are saying if they come to power, they will not let NRC happen. If BJP comes, NRC will take place and we will all be killed”, another said.
Out of the several women we spoke to, a handful had a different take.
“They are scaring us to vote for BJP. But we will vote for Modi uncle. What has TMC done for us? We called her ‘didi’, but there is no water, no work. If she had done something for us, we would not be working in Gurgaon”.
OpIndia’s ground reporters did confirm that women and men from Delhi and Gurgaon were landing at the Sealdah and Howrah Railway stations in the hundreds and thousands.
The poor men and women fleeing to vote in mortal fear refused to be interviewed on record. “Didi, you know what TMC does to us. We cannot show our face. Please record us”, they said.
What about the Hindu maids? Why are they leaving?
OpIndia spoke to several Hindu househelps as well. While the exodus is not as severe, but most Bengali Hindu maids are also leaving Gurgaon to vote in the West Bengal elections.
But are they being threatened by TMC too? Not quite. They do, however, feel threatened by TMC.
When asked if they received calls from TMC or any other party, including BJP, they flatly denied. Nobody had called them and nobody had asked them to go vote in the Bengal elections.
“So why are you going”, we asked.
“This is our last chance to save Bengal. See how the Muslims are going in thousands to vote for TMC. We have to go too”, a group of Hindu househelps said.
“If they come back, we will never be able to go back. Do you know what they did to us in Sandeshkhali? Do you know how they treat us”, another group asked.
“Bengal will become Bangladesh, that is what they want. This is why these Muslims are going to vote”.
The palpable desperation of TMC
The testimony of the househelps fleeing Gurgaon tell its own tale of the palpable desperation of TMC. The desperation of TMC was first obvious with the highpitched opposition to Election Commission’s SIR exercise. When the Supreme Court shut down TMC’s judicial stunt and upheld the SIR exercise in Bengal, TMC coordinated an attack against judicial officers, threatening them, attacking them and holding them hostage for hours.
A Supreme Court bench comprising CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipin Pancholi took sou motu cognisance of the Malda violence after being alerted by the Calcutta High Court CJI. The apex court came down heavily on the West Bengal government and the Malda district administration.
The court noted that the incident was not routine but a “calculated and motivated move” to demoralise the judicial officers and to stop the ongoing process of adjudicating objections in the left-out cases. The court described the incident as a challenge to its authority.
Moreover, the court observed that the targeting of judicial officers, who are, in essence, an “extension of this Court”, is a “brazen attempt not only to browbeat judicial officers, but also amounts to a challenge to the authority of this Court. This incident certainly cannot be construed to be a routine occurrence and, ex facie, appears to be a calculated, well-planned and deliberate act intended to demoralise judicial officers and obstruct the ongoing process of adjudication of objections in the remaining cases.”
The Bench further observed that such attempts to create psychological fear in the minds of judicial officers to prevent them from discharging their duties, by disrupting law and order, will not be permitted. The court dubbed the gherao and harassment of judicial officers in Malda as a case of “criminal contempt”.
“We have no hesitation in observing that we will not permit any person to take the law into their own hands so as to create a climate of psychological fear in the minds of judicial officers who are discharging their duties. Such conduct, undoubtedly, amounts to criminal contempt within the meaning of Section 2(cl of the Contempt of Courts Act, L97L,” the court said.
The court further noted that the Malda incident “reflects a complete failure on the part of the civil and police administration, in so far as the law and order situation in Maldah District is concerned.” The Bench also took note of the information provided that the judicial officers were deliberately deprived of even essentials like food and water.
“We are informed that the situation was so dire that even food and water were not permitted to be supplied to the judicial officers. The Hon’ble Chief Justice further pointed out that neither the District Magistrate nor the Superintendent of Police had reached the BDO office where the officers were gheraoed,” the Court stated.
The Supreme Court highlighted the failure on the part of the Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary, the Director General of Police, the Collector and the Superintendent of Police in taking effective measures to safely evacuate the gheraoed judicial officers despite receiving information.
“It also pains us to observe that the manner in which the Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary, the Director General of Police, the Collector and the Superintendent of Police have acted is highly deplorable. They owe an explanation to this Court as to why, upon being informed that the judicial officers had been gheraoed at around 03:30 p.m., no effective measures were taken to secure their safe evacuation,” the court said,
“It was incumbent upon the State administration to immediately inform the Election Commission of India and seek deployment of central forces, wherever necessary, safety of the judicial officers,” it added.
Orally, CJI Suryakant said that West Bengal is the “most polarised state” where “everyone speaks in political language”. The court also lamented that it was expected that everyone would welcome judicial officers, since they are court-appointed neutral agents; however, even “they were not spared from attacks”.
Beyond the SIR violence, the statements by Mamata Banerjee herself tell her a tale of sordid desperation, perhaps the same desperation CPIM felt in 2011.
Recently, Mamata Banerjee said, “If TMC remains, we will meet again”.
Will TMC remain? Only time will tell. For now, only two things are evident – One, that TMC is desperate. Two, that 2026 West Bengal Assembly Elections is now a battle for Bengal’s soul.
