Taniya Bhardwaj, once labelled Maoist by Mamata on live TV, reacts to Bengal verdict

Fourteen years after a question from a university student left former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visibly furious on live television, Taniya Bhardwaj has weighed in on the BJP's sweeping victory in the state during the recently-concluded assembly elections, saying people had "lost patience" and voted for change.

Bhardwaj shot to national attention in 2012 when, as a 22-year-old political science student at Kolkata’s prestigious Presidency University, she questioned Mamata about remarks made by senior Trinamool Congress leaders in the aftermath of the Park Street rape case, in which a 37-year-old woman was allegedly raped at gunpoint inside a car while returning home from a nightclub.

Mamata had also come under fire at the time after calling the incident a "shaajano ghotona (concocted story)” and suggesting it was part of a conspiracy to tarnish her government's image.

When Bhardwaj questioned her during the show, an angry Mamata responded by calling her a “Maoist and a CPM cadre” before walking out of the televised programme.

Now, while speaking to ABP Ananda after the BJP's landslide win in West Bengal earlier this month, Bhardwaj recalled the incident and said the election result reflected a growing desire among voters for change.

"I had asked a question. I was very young then, around 22. I was a student at Presidency University and was about to go to the London School of Economics. I was told that the new government had completed a year, the chief minister would be there, and I could ask whatever I wanted," she told ABP Ananda.

Bhardwaj said she attended the programme hoping to raise concerns over comments made by senior Trinamool leaders about the Park Street rape case.

"I went there to raise a complaint. I did not like the remarks made by Madan Mitra and Arabul Islam regarding the Park Street rape victim, and I thought I would tell her about it and that she would do something about it," she said, adding: "Instead of addressing the issue, she took it personally, became defensive, called me a Maoist and got very angry."

The exchange took place during a televised programme in 2012, when Mamata Banerjee's government had completed a year in office.

Introducing herself as a student from Presidency University, Bhardwaj had said: "Ma'am, the conduct of certain people like Madan Mitra and Arabul Islam have left a bad taste in the mouth for most of us. It has disturbed us and people in power should be acting in a more responsible way."

A visibly upset Mamata hit back, accusing Bhardwaj of being linked to the CPM and Maoists. "I cannot reply to the CPM question. They are Maoist students," Mamata said before leaving the show.

The confrontation became one of the most widely discussed political moments in West Bengal at the time. A video of the interaction surfaced on May 4, when the results were declared, and went viral.

Now, in the wake of the BJP's emphatic election victory, Bhardwaj believes the outcome was driven by public dissatisfaction that had been building for years.

"People have lost patience. Unable to protest in other ways, how did they protest? By voting. We all voted because we want development to genuinely happen now, we want real change this time,” she said.

She also pointed to migration from the state as an issue that deserves greater attention: "And this migration that we are seeing, people call it unemployment. But unemployment is a national issue. Not everyone across India is migrating; it is happening more in states like Bihar and Bengal. We need to analyse why this is happening," she said.

Bhardwaj further cited images of teachers protesting on the streets as another source of public discontent in 2025. Her remarks referenced the demonstrations by thousands of teachers and non-teaching staff who lost their jobs after the Supreme Court cancelled more than 25,000 school appointments linked to the SSC recruitment case.

Many of the affected teachers later staged protests, marches and hunger strikes in Kolkata demanding justice.

"Seeing teachers forced to protest on the streets was something none of us liked. In a state like ours, where we place such a high value on education, it was deeply upsetting,” she added.

Summing up her view of the election result, Taniya Bhardwaj said: "I think that is how we should view this result. People lost patience and this time they wanted something better to happen. I hope we can now begin a new chapter."

In the Bengal elections, the Trinamool's tally plunged to 80 from 215 in 2021. The BJP scripted history by winning 207 seats, up from the 77 it won in the last elections.