Mamata Banerjee on Monday once again tore into the Election Commission for the special intensive revision of the voter list, issuing a warning and raising questions on the rushed manner in which the SIR was being carried out, leaving scope for mistakes, both deliberate and inadvertent.

At the foundation stone-laying ceremony for Durga Angan, a cultural complex dedicated to the mother deity at New Town, the chief minister said 50 people had already died, some had committed suicide, allegedly because of the SIR.

“This is unacceptable. I will pray to the Mother: Destroy the demonic forces; awaken the power of humanity and defeat them,” said Mamata.

“Some are looting, vandalising. Decisions are being made about who will stay and who will have to leave. I will pray to Mother Durga to destroy the evil forces at play,” added the Trinamool Congress chief. “In less than a month, more than 50 people have died... this cannot be tolerated.”

She asked again why citizens born and/or raised in Bengal, having lived here all their lives, had to prove their citizenship or nationality. “What is the link between nationality and voting rights? When someone speaks Bengali, they are denied accommodation (outside Bengal, allegedly in saffron-ruled states). When a person speaks Bengali, they are labelled Bangladeshi,” said Mamata.

The chief minister’s call for a major, popular uprising in the election next summer against the SIR, linked to the wider, emotive issue of the alleged othering and politically motivated marginalisation of the Bengali identity and the Bengal ethos, has purportedly been giving sections in the saffron camp sleepless nights.

Some have even admitted to serious worry over her confidence in the SIR torpedoing the BJP.

Referring to the Assembly elections, Mamata said 2026 was about the protection of democratic rights, her foremost priority. “All human rights must be respected. No matter what the obstacles are, the struggle will continue relentlessly,” she said.

“We are being patient. But there is a limit. The land of Bengal doesn’t bow down. Everyone’s voting rights must be protected,” added the chief minister, not long after a Trinamool delegation’s visit to the Bengal chief
electoral officer.

In a letter of demands, Trinamool told the commission that the list of 1.36 crore voters who could be summoned for hearing in the next phase be released, and that the hearing process be completed by visiting the homes of the elderly and differently-abled, besides virtual hearings and second hearing dates.

Alleging harassment because of frequent changes in the commission’s guidelines, Trinamool flagged concerns over the removal of the names without notice. The delegation comprised MPs Partha Bhowmik and Bapi Halder, minister Shashi Panja, Birbaha Hansda, and Pulak Roy.

State BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya said: “The way the chief minister has been challenging the Constitution, I think the Constitution also has a limit to
its tolerance.”

“After this, maybe soon one day, the Constitution will speak its language,” he added.