Continuing her attack on the Election Commission (EC) and the BJP over the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday urged people to cast votes, saying it was time to avenge the deletion of voters’ names in West Bengal.
“Banglar manusher proti je osomman kora hoyeche, taar rajnoitik protishodh neoyar somoy esheche. SIR-er karone je oshonkhyo manusher mrityu hoyeche, tar badla neoyar somoy ekhon (The way the people of Bengal have been insulted, it’s time to take its political revenge. For those countless people who died due to SIR, it’s the time now to avenge it),” said the TMC supremo as she held a padyatra in support of her party’s candidate in Berhampore.
“Tara punoray nirbachon korar cheshta korbe. Ami tader porikolponar kotha shunechi. Protiti kormokortake bechhe bechhe niyog kora hoyeche. Kintu Banglar manush amader sathe aache. Eta nishchit korun jeno prokrito votera chara onyo keu vote dite na paare. Tara jodi amader kormider ED ebong CBI diye bhoy dekhonor cheshta kore, tobe bhoy paoyar kono proyojon nei. Amra jani tader kibhabe mokabila korte hoy (We know they will try to hold a repoll.) I have heard about their plans. They have carefully selected every official. But the people of Bengal are with us. Everyone should ensure that, apart from genuine voters, no one else can cast votes… If they try to scare you with ED and CBI, there is no need to get afraid. We know how to tackle them,” the chief minister added.
The TMC chief alleged that the ongoing SIR exercise—which she dubbed a tool for deletion rather than addition—has led to the removal of lakhs of names from the electoral rolls, predominantly targeting Bengali-speaking citizens, Hindus, Muslims, and Rajbanshis.
She claimed that in her own constituency of Bhabanipur alone, 40,000 voters were deleted. “Even BJP supporters will not vote for them this time. People of Bengal hate the BJP, which is why they are bringing in outsiders in trains and buses,” she added.
The chief minister compared the BJP’s central leaders to “migratory birds” and “cuckoos of spring” who appear only during the elections.
“The babus of Delhi come once in a while. They don’t even visit every place. They give Rs 500 to people to bring them to their programmes with hired goons and outsiders,” Mamata alleged.
Revisiting her “washing machine” metaphor, she accused the BJP of using central agencies like the ED and CBI to harass TMC workers while shielding their own. She further criticised the EC for the mass transfer of nearly 500 West Bengal officials, claiming it was a move to facilitate the entry of “drugs, cash, and arms” by weakening state oversight.
In a bid to appeal to Bengali asmita (pride), Banerjee slammed the BJP-ruled states for harassment of migrant workers from districts like Murshidabad. She mentioned the case of Sunali Khatun, a pregnant woman allegedly “pushed back” to Bangladesh.
She also took a swipe at the BJP’s perceived interference with food habits:
“In BJP-ruled states, people are not allowed to eat fish, eggs, and meat. Fish and meat are offered to Goddess Kali as prasad. Will Bengalis now be told what to eat?”
She urged voters to guard Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) until the final counting day. “We are the Pandavas; they are the Kauravas,” she declared, asserting that the BJP government in Delhi would “fall in 2026” while Bengal would rise to “capture Delhi.”
Speaking at a rally in support of Mohammed Nur Alam in Samserganj and Mohammed Amirul Islam in Farakka, the chief minister accused the BJP of spreading canards against her that she did not do much for the interest of the Muslims, maintaining that she has fought hard against the implementation of the Waqf (Amendment) Act.
Claiming that she and her party will never allow the establishment of detention camps in the name of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Mamata said, “That is why you (BJP) are being vengeful against me.” She sought to remind that the Election Commission’s authority over the state’s administration is till completion of the election process.
Claiming that names of Hindus were also deleted in the SIR exercise, Mamata said, “I am from a Hindu family; names of my family members have also been deleted.” She also alleged that the BJP was “spreading venom” in the name of religion, which stands for humanity.