BJP leader and actor Mithun Chakraborty on Thursday hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, dismissing her recent claims of harassment of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in other states as “baseless” and accusing her of spreading fear for political mileage ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
Chakraborty alleged that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leadership was rattled by the Election Commission’s (EC) ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as they feared losing control over their “illegal vote bank.” “Trinamool Congress leaders know that once the names of infiltrators are removed from the voters’ list, they will not be able to win even 70 out of 294 seats in West Bengal in 2026. That is why they are panicking and opposing the EC’s revision drive,” he said.
Talking to reporters, the veteran actor-turned-politician said Banerjee’s comments were aimed at “stirring controversy” and “creating unnecessary panic” among the people of Bengal.
“She wants to create controversy in everything. Nothing is going to happen. Bangla language will remain as it is. Mamata Banerjee has no monopoly over it. We will put up a strong fight,” Chakraborty, a former TMC Rajya Sabha MP, said.
He had resigned from the TMC in 2016 and joined the BJP in 2021, just a month ahead of the Assembly polls.
His comments came days after Banerjee, addressing a public rally, alleged that Bengali migrant workers were being harassed in states like Gujarat and Maharashtra and cautioned against what she described as the BJP’s “linguistic terrorism.” She also accused the EC of deleting names of minority and migrant voters from the electoral rolls in Bengal and neighbouring Bihar, and called upon her party workers to ‘gherao’ the Commission’s offices in protest.
Reacting sharply to the TMC supremo’s gherao call, Chakraborty said such tactics were futile.
“The Election Commission must act. Fake and bogus voters have to be removed; only then will elections be fair. Even if the Commission is gheraoed, what will that achieve? What is the point of such protests?” he asked.
Chakraborty further claimed that the highest number of illegal infiltrators who managed to get their names enrolled in the voters’ list was in West Bengal, and this had long been “exploited” by the ruling party.
“Names of genuine Bengali voters are not being deleted anywhere in India. Only those who infiltrated illegally and got themselves registered as voters are being weeded out,” he said.
He also urged BJP workers in Bengal to assist the Election Commission in identifying such illegal entries.
“This is a collective responsibility. Our workers should come forward and help the Commission in identifying infiltrators whose names have wrongly entered the rolls,” Chakraborty said.
The TMC, meanwhile, has been opposing the EC’s special revision drive tooth and nail.
Banerjee has even said her party would not allow the exercise to take place in the state, alleging that it was an indirect attempt to introduce the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in West Bengal.
The war of words between the TMC and BJP comes amid rising political temperatures in the state ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
While the TMC has accused the BJP of disenfranchising minority and migrant voters and threatening Bengal’s linguistic and cultural fabric, the saffron party has hit back, saying the ruling party is running a fear campaign to deflect from governance failures and protect its illegitimate vote bank.