West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee being greeted by people as she arrives at St Lucy Church at Chalsa, in Jalpaiguri district. Photo: X|@AITCofficial/X via PTI
West Bengal elections: Mamata accuses Centre, EC of ‘snatching voting rights’
Addressing a rally in Maynaguri, West Bengal CM accused the Centre of using electoral roll revisions to exclude Rajbanshis and women ahead of the 2026 polls.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday (March 25) launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led Centre and the Election Commission, accusing them of misusing Constitutional institutions to undermine democracy and “snatching voting rights”.
Addressing an election rally in North Bengal’s Maynaguri, she warned that the next step could be attempts to strip people of citizenship through the imposition of the NRC. Certain communities were being excluded from the poll processes through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, she added.
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"Rajbanshis names have been removed through SIR. Women's names are also being removed. If deaths occur because of SIR, who will take responsibility?" she posed.
Targets EC, Centre
Without naming Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Banerjee urged the gathering to "bid farewell to this gentleman here and the two gentlemen in Delhi".
The chief minister alleged that the ruling TMC was being deprived of powers, but insisted that her biggest strength was the people of the state.
"They have taken everything away from me. All I have in my hands now are the people," she said, while also attacking the BJP and the Election Commission for allegedly working in tandem.
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Earlier in the day, Banerjee made similar allegations at the Kolkata airport before leaving for north Bengal, referring to a six-year-old Election Commission document that allegedly carried the BJP's lotus symbol. "Why are you playing from behind? Come and fight openly," she said.
No faith in BJP
Banerjee further said she had asked her party candidates to take lawyers with them while filing nomination papers, alleging that nominations had been cancelled in BJP-ruled Assam.
"I will ask our candidates to take lawyers along while filing nominations. In Assam, several nominations have been cancelled. I do not have faith in the BJP and the Election Commission," she said.