Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee will hold rallies in all Bengal districts along the India-Bangladesh border to protest against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
TMC sources said Mamata Banerjee will go to Malda on December 3. She will address an anti-SIR rally in Gajol on that day. The next day, she will participate in another anti-SIR rally in Berhampore under Murshidabad district. Whether Abhishek Banerjee will participate in that rally or not has not been decided yet.
Party sources said Mamata Banerjee has got enthused after the ‘success’ of her anti-SIR rally in Matua-dominated Bangaon on November 25. Since 2019, the TMC has not had much success in elections in the Bangaon area. But the party, sources said, is expecting to do well in the 2026 Assembly polls owing to the ‘panic’ surrounding SIR.
At the Bangaon rally, Mamata Banerjee had asked voters not to be afraid of the SIR exercise. “Don’t panic at all. We won’t let you leave. No one can force you to leave when the Trinamool Congress is with you,” she said.
She also criticised the Election Commission (EC) and claimed: “The BJP is cheating people and trying to implement the CAA through the back door of SIR. It’s playing the religion card. Why were you sitting idle for so many years? It’s not possible to complete the SIR process within three months. It requires three years.”
When contacted, a senior TMC leader said, “The CM was addressing a TMC rally at Bongaon in North 24 Parganas, one of the strong citadels of the Matua community in the state. However, due to infighting within the All India Matua Mahasangha, Mamata did not visit Thakurbari in Thakurnagar, the spiritual centre of the Matuas that decides the electoral fate of political parties in more than 30 Assembly constituencies in North 24 Parganas, Nadia and Jalpaiguri districts. The rally virtually kick-started campaigning for the Assembly elections slated for April-May 2026 and intensified the anti-SIR agitations.”
He further said, “After addressing Matua-dominated areas, Mamata Banerjee has planned to enter Muslim-dominated Malda and Murshidabad in the first week of December. In these two districts, the number of Muslim voters is also high. Mamata Banerjee is trying to woo these sections of the population as well.
“Both Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee are realising that the grassroots level of the TMC has become complacent after repeatedly winning against the BJP. They think this can damage the party organisation. So, Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee will be touring bordering districts to energise the party rank and file just six months ahead of the state polls.”