Mamata holds first community outreach meet in Bhabanipur, attacks BJP over SIR deletions

Kolkata, Apr 20 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held her first community outreach programme in her Bhabanipur constituency since filing her nomination on April 8, using the platform to sharpen her attack on the BJP over deletion of names from electoral rolls and alleged attempts to divide people on religious and caste lines.

At the meeting, organised at Ladies' Park in her constituency on Sunday, Banerjee described elections as a "festival of democracy and not autocracy" and urged people from different communities to remain united ahead of the assembly polls.

Bhabanipur has emerged as one of the most keenly watched contests of the 2026 assembly polls, with Banerjee, a three-term MLA from the seat, locked in a direct battle against Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.

The contest has acquired added significance as it is being seen as a rematch of the 2021 Nandigram battle, where Adhikari had defeated Banerjee after quitting the TMC and joining the BJP.

Addressing a community interaction programme, Banerjee alleged that names of several voters, belonging to minority and migrant communities, had been removed from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision process.

"Election is the festival of democracy, not autocracy," the Trinamool Congress supremo said before a gathering comprising members of the Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Jain, Gujarati, Sindhi, Bihari and ISKCON communities.

She appealed to those present to carry her message back to their respective communities and maintain social unity.

Banerjee claimed that around 300 nuns had found their names missing from the voters' list during the revision exercise.

She also alleged that the names of voters from the Muslim, Bihari and Gujarati communities had been struck off without any valid reason.

Without naming the BJP directly at first, Banerjee accused her political opponents of trying to divide society on the basis of caste, religion and community in the run-up to the elections.

Referring to the recent controversy surrounding the women's reservation bill, she alleged attempts were being made to create social divisions instead of addressing people's concerns.

She accused the BJP of trying to "capture Bengal by force" and alleged that central agencies, security forces and money power were being used in the state because the party feared defeat.

Banerjee assured people that West Bengal would continue to remain a place where people of every caste, creed and religion could practise their faith freely.

"Everyone has the right to follow his or her religion in Bengal. We have always protected communal harmony," she said, adding that she had personally attended programmes of different communities over the years.

Though a chair had been kept for her on the dais, she chose to sit among those gathered in the front rows and addressed the audience with a hand-held microphone.

After the chief minister's speech, representatives of several communities expressed support for her and voiced hope that she would return to power for a fourth consecutive term. PTI