Fresh political controversy has erupted in West Bengal after Shahidul Haque, candidate of the Aam Janata Unnayan Party from the Nandigram Assembly constituency, made explosive claims against the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) leadership.
Shahidul Haque claimed that the top leadership of the Trinamool Congress had prepared a massive election budget of nearly ₹100 crore to defeat BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram. He directly targeted Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee and TMC’s political consulting group Indian Political Action Committee over the spending.
Cash distribution to voters in Nandigram
Speaking about the election campaign, Shahidul Haque said that money was distributed among voters before polling through Trinamool workers and I-PAC members. According to him, envelopes filled with cash ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 were delivered to households across Nandigram in an attempt to influence voters.
In order to defeat Shri @SuvenduWB da from Nandigram, Trinamool had a dedicated budget of approx 100 crores !!
— Keya Ghosh (@keyakahe) May 17, 2026
Shocking claim has been made by AJUP Nandigram candidate Sahidul Haque ! He also said that each voter were secretly handed over cash and Avishek Banerjee must be called… pic.twitter.com/n1tGkHbDAT
He claimed, “The common people of Nandigram did take envelopes full of money from the people of Trinamool candidate Pavitra Kar and Abhishek Banerjee, but they went to the booth and voted for the BJP.”
Praising the voters of Nandigram, Haque further said, “Even though they pocketed the money, they chose Suvendu Adhikari instead of voting for Pavitra Kar to form a healthy government in the state. I salute these well-informed people of Nandigram.”
The AJUP leader demanded that Abhishek Banerjee be arrested and investigated by ED-CBI. However, he didn’t reveal the source of his claim.
Claims of foreign funding
Shahidul Haque also made serious allegations regarding the source of the election funds. He claimed that the money used during the election campaign did not come through legal channels. According to him, “This ₹100 crore spread in Nandigram came from Bangladesh, Pakistan and various foreign countries. This huge foreign money was used in the state elections through hawala or some other illegal route.”
The candidate of the party led by former TMC leader Humayun Kabir further said that Abhishek Banerjee was directly involved in bringing and distributing the funds. Haque demanded a probe by central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
“Abhishek Banerjee should be immediately arrested for this anti-national financial conspiracy. There should be a thorough investigation into the source of this money,” he said.
