Siliguri (WB), Jul 21 (PTI) Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Monday demanded that special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls be conducted in the state as is being done in Bihar for removing illegal voters from the list.
He maintained that those Hindus who have come to India from Bangladesh due to religious persecution need not be afraid.
“They are refugees in the eyes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Adhikari said, addressing a rally here after leading a march to Uttarkanya, the north Bengal branch of the state secretariat here, to protest atrocities on women in the state.
“Indian Muslims need not worry,” Adhikari said to reassure the minority community, who the ruling TMC is claiming are being targeted by the saffron brigade, if an SIR is held in the state.
Maintaining that the BJP stands firm with them, he said, “No Rohingya or Bangladeshi Muslim illegal immigrant, however, will be allowed to have their names in the electoral rolls in the state.” The SIR of electoral rolls has triggered a major political controversy in Bihar, where elections are due later this year, with the opposition INDIA bloc alleging that it was designed to “benefit the ruling NDA”, a charge denied by the EC that is carrying out the massive exercise.
Adhikari alleged that there are 2.15 crore jobless people in West Bengal, while alleging the flight of industries from the state.
“Why are there 60 lakh migrant labourers from the state working outside if the chief minister has provided work to all?” he asked.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressed the annual Trinamool Congress’ Martyrs’ Day rally in Kolkata on Monday.
Stating that the TMC supremo has asserted in the rally that her party will win more seats in the 2026 West Bengal assembly polls than the numbers it secured in 2021, Adhikari said, “I also challenge that she will be a former chief minister of the state after the next elections.” Pointing to the rape and murder of an on-duty doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital and the alleged sexual assault of a student at a law college in Kolkata, he claimed that womenfolk in the state “are not safe under the present dispensation”.
Adhikari and other leaders participated in the programme called by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) to protest the atrocities on women and demand security for them.
Alleging that north Bengal lacks modern healthcare facilities, he claimed that the state government was not providing land for an AIIMS that the central government wants to set up for the benefit of the people here.
He alleged that tea garden workers in north Bengal were not getting their dues while the Mamata Banerjee government was working to sell off the land of the gardens. PTI AMR ACD
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