West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led central government on Thursday, accusing it of attempting to strip citizens in the state of their rights through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list.
Addressing a public rally in Jhargram, Banerjee alleged that the “double-engine government” — a reference to the BJP ruling both at the Centre and in some states — is using the SIR process to wrongfully brand people as illegal immigrants, particularly Rohingyas, and deport them.
“Are we really independent? I hope our citizenship is not snatched. Please don’t deprive us,” she said, warning that this move could lead to detention of innocent citizens and their forcible pushback into Bangladesh.
Banerjee accused the BJP of misusing constitutional institutions like the Election Commission of India (ECI) and weaponising legal tools instead of focusing on governance and public welfare.
“They say Bengali doesn’t exist. I have a ten-rupee note from 1912 — it’s written in Bengali. The BJP keeps running to court instead of helping people,” she added.
The Bengal CM also reiterated her allegation that there is a hidden NRC (National Register of Citizens) agenda behind the SIR drive, pointing to Assam’s experience where lakhs of Hindu Bengalis were excluded from the final NRC list.
“If genuine voters are removed, I will protest across the world,” she warned, asserting that BJP’s attempts to “insult the Bengali language” and intimidate state officials would not go unchallenged.
In response, BJP MP and state president Samik Bhattacharya criticised Banerjee’s remarks, claiming her resistance to the voter list revision was aimed at protecting illegal votes.
“If Mamata Banerjee thinks she can return to power with the help of illegal Bangladeshis, Rohingyas, and jihadis, she is mistaken. Her statements are an attack on constitutional institutions,” Bhattacharya told ANI.
He further urged the CM to raise her concerns in the Supreme Court, asserting that “this government will go this time.”
The face-off between the BJP and TMC over the voter list revision and allegations of targeting Bengali-speaking citizens in other states has heightened political tensions in West Bengal, with general elections less than a year away.
