Mamata Accuses BJP, EC of ‘Invisible Rigging’ Through Voter List Revision

Mounting a blistering attack on the BJP and the EC, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused them of turning the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists into a political tool for a "silent, invisible rigging" ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.

She warned that the fall of the Narendra Modi government would be "inevitable" if even a single eligible voter was deleted from West Bengal's rolls during the SIR conducted by the Election Commission (EC) in the state.

Leading a massive anti-SIR rally through the heart of Kolkata, from Dharmatala to Jorasanko, the ancestral home of Rabindranath Tagore, Banerjee, with nephew and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee by her side, alleged that the BJP and the EC were "colluding to erase voters from opposition-ruled states" while sparing those governed by the saffron party.

"The BJP is conducting SIR in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, but not in Assam, Tripura or other northeastern states. Why this bias? This is discrimination aimed at helping the ruling party at the Centre," she thundered before a charged crowd.

She asserted, "If even one genuine voter's name is struck off the rolls, the BJP government will be shaken to its core. The fall of this government will be inevitable."

Taking a swipe at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, whom she mockingly called "kursi babu," Banerjee said, "In 2002, Bengal's last SIR took two years to complete. Why this rush to finish it in a month now? Just to make Modi Babu and Amit Shah happy?"

She accused the EC of bias and manipulation, saying, "In Cooch Behar and Alipurduar, there were 700 voters in the 2002 list, but now only 174 remain. How did you remove 526 voters? This is fraud."

Claiming that the BJP's vote share in the last Lok Sabha elections was manipulated, she said, "They wouldn't have won this time, but suddenly the EC increased their vote percentage. This is not victory; this is theft." Without naming anyone, she attacked the EC bureaucracy.

"I respect the chair, but there's a limit to doing dalali.... Some babus have forgotten that they are supposed to serve the Constitution, not a party," she said.

Banerjee alleged that the BJP was plotting to delete "nearly two crore voters" from West Bengal's rolls as part of a larger plan to capture power.

"They think they can remove two crore names and deport people to Bangladesh or throw them into detention camps. This is their plan," she charged.

Mocking the BJP's electoral strategy, the CM added, "If you think you can win 294 seats by cutting 2-3 per cent votes, you are living in a fool's paradise." She claimed that BJP leaders had even said that removing three lakh Matua votes could help them cut 1.5 crore votes "from the other side", and called it proof of the saffron party's "dangerous mindset."

She said, "They say they will expel Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. How many Rohingyas did they find in Bihar after SIR? Just speaking Bengali doesn't make someone a Bangladeshi. Speaking Urdu doesn't make someone a Pakistani. Bengal's identity cannot be insulted like this."

The three-time chief minister said, "I was born at home, not in a hospital. There was no institutional delivery then. I have been MP seven times, chief minister thrice, and a central minister four times. Do I still need to justify my citizenship?" Banerjee slammed the BJP-led government for failing to conduct the census on time.

She questioned the EC's timeline, asking, "How can you cover 10 crore people and collect forms in three months for four election-bound states? It took two years last time." Banerjee alleged that BSF personnel were harassing people in border areas.

"They are picking up people without reason in Matua-dominated regions and holding illegal camps," she said, warning that such actions were "causing fear among genuine citizens."

Claiming several people had died due to panic caused by the SIR, she said, "The BJP is behind this chaos. People are dying because of the fear they are spreading." Drawing parallels with demonetisation, Banerjee said, "I had opposed demonetisation. They still went ahead. What did people gain? Nothing but hardship and humiliation. And yet they never apologised!"

Accusing Union Home Minister Amit Shah of hypocrisy, she without naming, said, "He criticises our so-called dynastic politics, yet he has appointed his own son to the highest post."

On the issue of citizenship documents, she remarked, "You made people pay to get Aadhaar cards, and now you say Aadhaar isn't proof of citizenship, What nonsense is this?"

The TMC boss alleged that BJP workers, posing as bank employees, were collecting personal data in parts of Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat, represented by Abhishek Banerjee.

"Give information only to official BLOs. Suppose you are not at home, will your name then be removed? That's why we have set up a TMC helpdesk to assist people," she said.

Banerjee said people of West Bengal were being branded as Bangladeshis simply because they worked in other states. "These illiterates know nothing about our history of independence. Once, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh had been one. After independence, people went wherever life took them," she said.

Reiterating that the state would not bow down before powers in New Delhi, the chief minister declared, "This is not just about Bengal. This is about the soul of India the right to vote, the right to belong. We will fight this both in Bengal and, if needed, in Delhi."