Mamata's Protocol Snub to Murmu Signals Desperation: Analyst

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President Murmu’s Bengal Visit Protocol Snub — What It Reveals About Trinamool’s Fear Factor

By TRH Political Desk

New Delhi, March 7, 2026 — West Bengal’s refusal to receive President Droupadi Murmu during her visit to Siliguri for the International Santhal Conference has triggered a sharp political controversy — one that political analyst Manish Anand says reveals deep anxiety within the Trinamool Congress rather than political confidence.

In a monologue for The Raisina Hills, Anand called the episode “unprecedented in Indian politics.” Not just Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee — who was reportedly sitting at a protest site in Kolkata — but not a single minister from the West Bengal government was present to receive the President. “No state has ever treated the constitutional head of the country this way,” Anand said. “Whatever the political disagreement, the constitutional protocol must be respected. That is non-negotiable,” he added.

TMC’s Justification Falls Flat

Trinamool Congress defended the no-show by arguing that the President should not visit a state during an election period and should not be seen favouring the BJP. Anand sharply dismissed this framing. “Trinamool is essentially calling the President a BJP representative — that is a debatable and deeply problematic position,” he said, adding: “This sets a very wrong precedent.”

The Real Driver: Fear of President’s Rule

Anand’s more significant argument is that the protocol breach was driven by fear. With West Bengal assembly elections expected within six to seven weeks, Trinamool Congress is, in his assessment, gripped by the belief that the Modi government at the Centre is preparing to impose President’s Rule in the state.

“There is a sense of desperation that has settled inside TMC,” Anand told his audience. “They believe President’s Rule is coming, one way or another — and that fear seems to have influenced how President Murmu’s visit was handled.”

He pointed to the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls as a major source of anxiety for the ruling party. Approximately 63 lakh voter names have been cut, with another 60 lakh disputed — bringing the total of contested voters in West Bengal to nearly 1.25 crore. Mamata Banerjee’s own assembly constituency has seen around 43,000 names deleted from the rolls. “TMC has framed the entire voter revision exercise as a BJP-driven operation to undermine them,” Anand noted, adding that the Supreme Court’s order on the matter did not go in Mamata Banerjee’s favour.

The verdict of the Bihar elections looms as a cautionary tale. After a similar Special Intensive Revision there, the NDA swept to power — a result that, Anand suggests, has made Trinamool deeply wary of what clean voter rolls might mean for them in Bengal.

Why RN Ravi, Why Now?

Anand also addressed the appointment of RN Ravi as West Bengal’s new Governor, replacing CV Ananda Bose who resigned citing health reasons — just as former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar had done before him. Ravi, who previously served as Governor of Nagaland and Tamil Nadu, is known for his direct confrontations with the DMK government in Chennai.

“RN Ravi’s reputation — of being willing to confront a non-BJP state government — has already reached Kolkata before he has,” Anand said. “TMC believes he is there to prepare the ground, and that belief is fuelling the panic.”

With elections now weeks away, Anand warned that the confrontation between the Centre and Mamata Banerjee’s government is entering its most volatile phase. “The question of who controls West Bengal’s booth management, syndicate politics, and voter turnout on election day is what this entire drama is really about,” he concluded.

(Manish Anand is a political analyst and host of The Raisina Hills.)