The Trinamool Congress on Friday (September 26, 2026) accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of manufacturing a narrative of religious polarisation by paying YouTubers and social media influencers ahead of the West Bengal Assembly polls.

According to expenditure statements filed with the Election Commission, the BJP spent ₹286.99 crore on the West Bengal Assembly Elections. With the details of expenditure now in the public domain, the names of several YouTubers have surfaced who have received money from the BJP.

Speaking to media persons in the West Bengal Assembly, Kunal Ghosh referred to a particular YouTuber who had created a flutter over social media while visiting a restaurant in Kolkata alleging that he was served beef instead of mutton.

“”Earlier in February, one of these influencers, visited Park Street’s famous Oly Pub and created a ruckus. He said that he was allegedly served the wrong meat preparation that he didn’t order. He said that he is a Brahmin. Mr. Chakraborty also got a poor waiter arrested and ruined the image of an established restaurant. Now we can see that he was paid ₹2.5 lakh by the BJP. “ the Beleghata MLA said.

The journalist turned politician also raised concerns about whether the creators had been overpaid compared to their content value and tried to distinguish between advertisement to mainstream media and money paid to youtubers.

“There is a difference between a media house and a YouTube channel that someone is running for their private purpose. Through their platforms, they have constantly been pulling down TMC’s image. But now ECI’s report made it clear that they did it for money. They were paid to create a manufactured narrative against us,” he said.

Demanding investigation into the conduct of these YouTubers, Mr. Ghosh said that these influencers pretended to be journalists while executing these paid assignments, which may raise a serious question about the media in public eye

During the bitterly contested West Bengal Assembly polls 2026, both the BJP and the Trinamool Congress engaged a lot of social media influencers. The Trinamool Congress had launched ‘Ami Banglar Digital Joddha’ (I am Bengal’s Digital Warrior) ahead of the assembly polls.

In the West Bengal Assembly polls, the BJP defeated the Trinamool Congress, winning 207 of the 293 seats for which results were declared. The Trinamool Congress was reduced to 80 assembly seats. The BJP spent ₹217.16 crore on general campaigning and ₹69.83 crore on candidates.