Kolkata, Jan 16 (PTI) Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday accused the BJP of attempting to exclude Bengali voters through the SIR and vowed to launch protests if a single genuine voter’s name is removed.
Addressing a rally in Midnapore as part of the party’s statewide ‘Abar Jitbe Bangla’ campaign ahead of the high-stakes West Bengal Assembly polls, Banerjee claimed the SIR exercise was designed to omit names of over one crore Bengali-speaking voters.
He alleged that polling officials were under undue pressure from the Election Commission (EC) and called for the protection of all voters from harassment.
Banerjee, who introduced three ‘dead’ voters at a rally in Midnapore, said as part of the BJP gameplan to omit names of one crore Bengali speaking genuine voters of state, the EC is carelessly omitting the names of bona fide voters in the name of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
“I am introducing three people here on stage. They are alive but CEC Gyanesh Kumar cannot see these citizens. I believe he should be called Vanish Kumar. For polling officials like Kumar, cataract surgery needs to be performed so that they can clearly see these alive voters,” he said.
Wondering how the SIR could result in the omission of names of one crore genuine voters, Banerjee said, “At the behest of the BJP, the EC is thrusting the SIR process within two months which normally it would have taken two years.” “Booth-level officers are agitating. They are not servants of EC. Why should they be subjected to the dictatorial changes and instructions of EC every now and then?,” he asked and threatened to intensify a protest if any genuine voter’s name is omitted.
Accusing the poll panel of harassing people in the name of hearing in camps, he said the EC has extended the hearing date by three days from January 16 and instructed party workers to “stay put outside hearing camps to ensure in a peaceful way that not a single voter is subjected to harassment.” “After 70-80 years of staying in Bengal, how can an elderly person be asked to attend hearing camps to prove his citizenship?,” he said.
He claimed that migrant people from Bengal are being pushed back to Bangladesh in BJP-ruled states.
“Even very recently, two cases of pushback attempt were reported in Kanthi and North 24 Parganas districts, as Bengali-speaking people are being branded as Bangladeshis by this ‘Bangla birodhi BJP government at Centre and in different states,'” he added.
Banerjee also criticised former CPI(M) leaders who joined the BJP, saying, “Saffron party leaders in Paschim Medinipur are former CPI(M), and this is the opposition model in the district and Jharkhand.” He accused the saffron party of hypocrisy on Hindutva issues, citing the Kumbh stampede in Uttar Pradesh.
“At least 82 people lost their lives. Bodies of pilgrims were hurriedly disposed of and the toll deliberately underreported to cover up Yogi Adityanath government’s negligence. We leave it to the judgement of the people to decide who the real Hindu birodhis are,” he said.
Accusing the Centre of blocking state funds, he said, “Despite this, the state mopped up its own resources to build houses for 12 lakh families under Awas Yojana. The showpiece ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ for women’s empowerment will never stop.” Banerjee claimed the BJP had disrespected Bengal’s cultural icons. “They had vandalised the bust of Iswarchandra Vidyasagar and spoke against Tagore’s song ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’. BJP leaders do not know the ethos of Bengali culture and heritage. This is the true self of the ‘Bangla Birodhi’ BJP,” he said.
Asserting that the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme for women’s empowermentt will never stop, Banerjee said, “The state has allotted Rs 500 crore for the Ghatal master plan to prevent recurrent floods. Our MP Dev had repeatedly wrote to the Centre for funds for thr Ghatal master plan without any positive response.” Banerjee said two BJP MLAs from Medinipur are in touch with him and are ready to join the TMC, “but I have kept the doors closed respecting wishes of our party’s rank and file.” He claimed Kharagur BJP MLA Hiran Chaterjee came to see him in his office with TMC leader Ajit Maity “but we will not take such turncoats in our fold.” He asserted that a TMC victory in over 250 seats in the 2026 assembly polls would “ultimately lead to the collapse of BJP in Bengal” and emphasised the need to win all 19 assembly seats in the Paschim Medinipur and Jhargram belts. PTI SUS MNB
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