Deleted voters confront Dilip in Kharagpur over ‘anti-nat’l’ jibe
Times of India | 13 April 2026
Kharagpur: Deleted voters in Kharagpur's Ward No. 25 staged a protest outside the BJP district office on Sunday, demanding an apology from BJP candidate Dilip Ghosh after he referred to deleted voters as "anti-nationals" during campaigning.
Protesters accused Ghosh — who served as Kharagpur Sadar MLA only from 2016 to 2019 before moving to Parliament — of returning after a decade's absence only to brand them anti-nationals. "Our fathers' and grandfathers' names are on the voter list and we were born here — how did we become anti-nationals?" said one protester. Ward No. 25 alone has seen 353 deletions.
The protest followed a viral video showing a local youth having his documents snatched by police while trying to confront Ghosh during Amit Shah's rally in the area on Friday.
Ghosh was dismissive. "I haven't called anyone an anti-national. If someone makes a fool of others, that is their fault, not mine," he said.