Desk Correspondent , Kolkata – The security arrangements outside the private residences of outgoing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, were significantly scaled down on Wednesday morning. This administrative move follows the Trinamool Congress’s major defeat in the state assembly elections, which concluded the party's 15-year tenure. An internal memo issued by the Joint Commissioner of Kolkata Police (HQ) directed the immediate trimming of additional security personnel and infrastructure at key locations associated with the outgoing leadership, effectively transitioning the protection protocol to reflect their changed political status.

The reduction in security was most visible at 188A Harish Chatterjee Street, the long-time residence of Mamata Banerjee, and 9 Camac Street, which serves as Abhishek Banerjee’s office. According to police officials, high-tech security features such as machine-operated scissor barricades, typically reserved for high-security zones, were dismantled and replaced with standard manual guardrails. While the core Z-plus category security remains intact for both leaders, the extra layers of police deployment and specialized surveillance teams that were previously stationed at these premises have been withdrawn. Similar measures were enacted at 121 Kalighat Road, which functioned as the party’s primary headquarters during their decade and a half in power.

This procedural shift comes just two days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a decisive victory in the 2026 assembly polls, winning 207 of the 294 seats and relegating the TMC to just 80 seats. The change in the security landscape coincided with other high-profile transitions in the state administration, including the resignation of West Bengal’s Advocate General, Kishore Datta, who stepped down from his post on Tuesday. As the state prepares for a change in governance, the removal of the heavy security cordons around Kalighat marks a symbolic end to an era of TMC dominance in West Bengal’s political and administrative corridors.