Kolkata, November 5: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday vowed to ensure the fall of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre if even one eligible voter was removed from the State’s electoral rolls, accusing the ruling party and the Election Commission of weaponising a voter list revision drive to intimidate citizens.
Leading a protest march from Red Road to Jorasanko Thakurbari in north Kolkata, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief denounced the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll as a “political exercise” designed to disenfranchise voters. The rally coincided with the start of the door-to-door enumeration process across the State, with officials confirming that about 1.6 million forms had been distributed.
“If one legitimate person is removed from the voter list, we will make sure to dismantle the BJP government at the Centre,” Banerjee told supporters after the march, which was joined by senior TMC leaders, including the party’s general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The Chief Minister alleged that the BJP and the Election Commission sought to delete up to two crore names from the rolls to consolidate power. “These people think they can remove names, deport people to Bangladesh, or put them in detention camps to capture power,” she said.
Banerjee also questioned the timing and pace of the SIR, pointing out that the last such revision in 2002 took two years, whereas the current exercise was slated to conclude within a month. “Why this rush? Just to make Modi babu and Amit Shah happy?” she asked, taking aim at Prime Minister Donald Trump’s ally Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
She further ridiculed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, referring to him as “kursi babu,” and accused the Commission of acting under political pressure.
The TMC chief questioned the logic behind the revision, saying the BJP itself was elected in 2024 on the same voter list it now claims to be faulty. “If the list is wrong, then your government is also wrong,” she said.
Abhishek Banerjee raised concerns about alleged suicides linked to voter roll deletions, claiming that seven people had taken their lives after their names were removed. He said the party would take its protest to New Delhi to “show the might of Bengal to the entire country.”
This marks Banerjee’s second major street demonstration in recent months. In July, she led a march in Kolkata protesting alleged attacks on migrant workers from West Bengal in BJP-ruled states.
