Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the BJP and the Election Commission had an unholy nexus to disenfranchise millions of legitimate Indian citizens from Bengal selectively through special intensive revision (SIR).
Framing the April 23-29 Assembly polls as a visceral fight for the right to the homeland, the Bengal chief minister positioned herself as the sole bulwark against an exercise she likened to a “venomous snake” waiting to strike the state.
“Ninety lakh names have still not been retained... targeted removal of lakhs and lakhs, to fulfil BJP aspirations,” Mamata said at an election rally in Chakdaha, Nadia district, alleging that the “under adjudication” names were a blueprint for mass displacement according to Sangh Parivar plans. “Because I myself stood in the Supreme Court, 32 lakh names have been included. But the chapter is far from over.”
A day before filing her nomination at Alipore’s Survey Building for the Bhabanipur fight against Suvendu Adhikari, the Trinamool Congress chairperson claimed that the SIR — especially the contentious “logical discrepancies” parameter set solely for Bengal — was a deliberate “got-up game” designed to purge the rolls of the names of people who do not favour the BJP.
She highlighted the selective “hunt” in Muslim-dominated districts and the targeting of Matuas in particular seats.
“Why is this discrimination happening? Around 250 people have died because of the SIR. They have made people stand in line and have humiliated them. Now people will stand in line to vote and avenge the humiliation,” she said.
Vowing legal muscle at the tribunals, she issued a categorical guarantee: no detention camps on Bengal’s soil.
“I will not let a single person get driven out by the BJP. Cast your vote so that nobody dares to call you infiltrators, ever again. Delhi has made sinister plans, bringing in outsiders while replacing our officers with those who have strong ties to the BJP,” said the Trinamool chief.
Her rhetoric spared no institution, extending to the central forces she accused of being a BJP wing.
“I respect the central forces, but if they try to block your (the women of Bengal, a core support base for Mamata) way, use your broomsticks to clear the path. Make sure to cast your vote. It is your right and you must defend it,” she said.
As Mamata listed her government’s achievements, she contrasted Bengal’s “peace” with the “torture” of Bengalis in BJP-ruled states.
“They read from teleprompters and say they will build a golden Bengal, then they thrash the innocent.... In BJP states, they don’t even allow Bengalis to stay in hotels. Mota Bhai can use the ED and CBI as much as he wants, but he will not win Bengal,” she said.
“This election is a battle to save your identity and your language,” added Mamata.
Balu defence
Dismissing graft charges against former cabinet colleague and long-term aide Jyoti Priya Mallick as “political vendetta”, Mamata claimed her “Balu” was framed for cleaning up Left-era corruption in the public distribution system.
“Nobody in my government has done better work than Balu. He exposed the daylight robbery of 1.5 crore fake ration cards, so they got the BJP to act against him,” she claimed at Habra in North 24-Parganas, defending her favourite, who spent about 14 months in prison, ED custody. She said the former minister was a victim of a “Ram-Bam” alliance intended to defame him.