Hitting out at the Centre over the deletion of voter names under the SIR exercise in the poll-bound state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged that every national agency was “dancing to the tunes of BJP” and compared the political climate to Bengali year-end “Chaitra sale”.
Addressing an election rally at Tentulia in North 24 Parganas district, Banerjee said, “Ninety lakh names have been deleted from the voter lists. The tribunals have not even started working yet. No agency in the country is neutral. Every central agency is dancing to the tunes of the BJP. It seems that everything has been sold out like in the Chaitra sale.”
Alleging that the deletion of names was a “calculated move”, Banerjee said, “Out of 90 lakh names that have been deleted, 60 lakh are Hindus and 30 lakh are Muslims. Mota Bhai has deleted voters indiscriminately. You can trust a snake once, but you can’t trust the BJP.”
She also claimed that the BJP brought people from outside for the Assam elections as it was not confident of victory with the votes of the state’s residents.
“A trainload of 50,000 people was brought to Assam from Uttar Pradesh,” she said.
The TMC supremo alleged that the BJP was trying to use the same ploy in Bengal to bring in people from outside, which is why officers were transferred.
A large number of police and administrative officers were transferred in Bengal by the Election Commission soon after the announcement of the polls.
Banerjee further claimed that in the NRC exercise in Assam, out of 19 lakh names delisted, 13 lakh were Hindus and 6 lakh were Muslims.
She urged those affected by SIR to appeal before the tribunals and assured legal support to ensure legitimate voters are re-enrolled.
“I will not allow NRC in Bengal. There will be no detention camps in Bengal till I am in power,” Banerjee said.
Raising concern over the safety of Bengal’s migrant workers in the BJP-ruled states, Banerjee said, “You (BJP) cannot protect Bengal’s people in other states, but promise a ‘Sonar Bangla’ at rallies. You should dream of a ‘Sonar Bangla’ only after ensuring security for people of West Bengal in BJP-ruled states. We will first have to win Bengal, then we will have to win Delhi.”
Turning her focus to the polling process, she dubbed the Election Commission as the “BJP vanish washing commission’ and urged supporters to be hyper-vigilant on the counting day.
“If they tamper with the EVMs, demand their replacement. You have been made to stand in queues for Aadhaar cards and SIR. I request you to wait to cast your vote if you see the EVM has malfunctioned. Press all the buttons on the EVMs to check for foul play. I don’t trust them,” she said.
Asking the electorate to consider her as the TMC’s candidate in all 294 seats in the state, Banerjee said, “If you want a Trinamool Congress government under my leadership, then consider me the candidate in all seats.”