The muse has struck Abhishek Banerjee ahead of polls.

The Trinamool Congress second-in-command has entered the creative domain of his aunt, chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who has several anthologies of poems to her name. Abhishek on Monday shared his poem, supposed to be his first publicly shared one, on the plight of Bengal's people in the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The Trinamool national general secretary on Monday wrote his first poem "Ami aswikar kori (I dare to reject)" and shared it on his social media platform to convey his anguish over alleged SIR harassments, which he describes as "talikar sashan (oppression of the list)". "In the depths of my inner turmoil over an insidious process that has shattered lives and echoing the collective anguish, pain, and righteous fury of our people, I have channelled these emotions into a humble verse," he wrote on X, sharing his poem.

“Ami aswikar kori — ei hathokarita, ei talikar shashon, ei bhoyer rajotto (I refuse — this imprudence, this oppression of the list, this reign of fear),” Abhishek's maiden poem opened with these words.

“Amader bola holo — ‘naam dao’, ‘kagoj dekhao’/ ar amra dilam itihas, mati ar gham-jhora jonmobhumi/ Tara bollo — ‘egulo jothesto noi’/ Amra bollam tobe bolo — kon dharai mrityu boidhyo holo? (We were told — give your name, show your papers. And we gave history, soil and a sweat-soaked homeland. They said — these are not enough. So we asked — tell us, under which law did death become legal?”) reads the second stanza of his poem.

Though he did not mention terms like SIR, the Election Commission, or the BJP anywhere in the 32-line poem, each stanza mounted an attack over the alleged 150 deaths in the state linked to the SIR process.

With Assembly elections in Bengal scheduled very soon, Abhishek targeted the Union government, highlighting the plight of citizens and questioning the arrogance of those in power.

“150 (eksho ponchash) — eta sankhya noi, eta rashtrer lagano agune manusher chitkar… Rashtrer khatai thai pai praner bodole porisonkhyan (150 — this is not a number, this is the scream of people in a fire lit by the nation… In the nation's ledger, statistics replace lives),” he wrote.

Abhishek’s first poem reminded many Trinamool Congress leaders of his aunt, Mamata Banerjee, who has written several books of poems, including a recent one touching on the SIR issue.

Addressing a rally in Singur, Hooghly, on January 28, Mamata recited a poem titled Upohas (Mockery) from her newly released book of 26 poems named "SIR".

“I have written 26 poems in a book titled SIR. I will read one of the poems from the book, and you can understand my pain through it,” Mamata told the audience before reciting the poem, which she said she had written during a helicopter ride to Gangasagar.

Trinamool leaders hailed Abhishek’s poem, and social media platforms were flooded with posts sharing it. Many of them said the poem echoed Mamata’s style of protest through writing.

“Abhishek has written a powerful poem to protest the ongoing plight and harassment of the people. The poem carries deep emotion and the fire of protest. His poem is an echo of Mamata Banerjee, who has also used poetry to express her pain,” said Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh.

The BJP not only questioned the originality of the poem, but also underlined its last stanza to criticise Abhishek, claiming that his lines aptly reflected Bengal's current situation with "arrogant rulers".

“Je shasok ahonkarey kotha bole, je shasok manusher kotha shone na, je khomota manushke tuchcho kore, itihas take kokhono khoma kore na (A ruler who speaks in arrogance, who does not listen to the people, a power that treats humans as insignificant — history never forgives them),” Abhishek concluded his poem with these lines.

In response, BJP state chief spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said: “Who wrote the poem? Did he (Abhishek) copy it from someone and post it on social media? However, whoever wrote it, we agree with the last stanza, as it rightly says that history never forgives arrogant and atrocious rulers."