Those targeting Bengal “should go to hell”: Mamata
KOLKATA, March 21: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led Centre, accusing it of trying to snatch away voting rights through the SIR, describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the “biggest infiltrator” and warning that those targeting Bengal “should go to hell”.
Addressing worshippers after Eid prayers at Kolkata’s iconic Red Road, the TMC supremo described the upcoming assembly elections as a battle to protect democratic rights and Bengal’s plural social fabric.
“We will not allow Modi ji and the BJP to take away your voting rights. We will fight till the end,” Banerjee told the gathering, adding that she had approached courts from Kolkata to Delhi to challenge the process.
Her remarks come amid an escalating political confrontation over the Election Commission’s voter roll revision exercise, which the ruling Trinamool Congress alleges has led to the deletion of names of genuine voters, particularly from minority-dominated areas.
“When you go abroad, you shake hands with leaders and speak of friendship. That is your choice, and I respect all countries. But when you return to India, suddenly the Hindu-Muslim narrative begins, and people are called infiltrators,” she said.
“You then call for deleting names and labelling people as infiltrators. I would say you and your government are the biggest infiltrators,” Banerjee said, in an apparent swipe at Modi and the BJP’s repeated allegations of illegal immigration in the border state.’ The BJP, however, reacted sharply to Banerjee’s remarks, accusing her of lowering the dignity of constitutional offices.
“Anyone who calls the prime minister of the country an infiltrator does not deserve to hold a constitutional post. I think she has lost her mind, she should visit Ranchi immediately,” BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said.
The party also rejected the TMC’s allegations regarding the voter roll revision, asserting that the exercise was being conducted by the EC to remove duplicate and ineligible names.
With the state heading towards a high-stakes assembly election, Banerjee used the occasion to reinforce her party’s campaign narrative that the BJP was attempting to influence the electoral process through institutional mechanisms and polarising rhetoric.
Illegal immigration has emerged as one of the BJP’s central campaign planks in Bengal, with party leaders repeatedly accusing the TMC government of encouraging infiltration from neighbouring Bangladesh to consolidate its minority vote bank.
“Many people’s names have been deleted from the voter list during the SIR exercise. I have knocked on the doors of the Calcutta High Court and even the Supreme Court. I still hope people’s rights will be protected,” she said.Striking a defiant note, the chief minister also alleged that the Centre had effectively imposed an “undeclared President’s Rule” in the state.
“You have captured our government and imposed an unofficial President’s Rule. But we will not be afraid,” she said.The Eid congregation on Red Road, a sprawling ceremonial boulevard in the heart of the city, has long served as both a religious gathering and a symbolic political stage in Bengal’s electoral calendar, often doubling as an important outreach platform during election years. (PTI)
