West Bengal’s political landscape is simmering as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gears up for a high-profile dharna on March 6 at Kolkata’s Esplanade against voter name deletions from the final list after the Special Intensive Revision. The protest revives echoes of her legendary 2008 hunger strike at the same venue.
BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar wasted no time in countering. ‘TMC boss’s dharna? Fine by us. Everyone knows she’s batting for Bangladeshi Rohingyas, cross-border migrants, and ghosts on the voter rolls,’ he remarked caustically.
The spark came from Abhishek Banerjee’s fiery Sunday presser. The TMC general secretary accused BJP of engineering a massive voter purge via the Election Commission, targeting over a crore names to rig future elections. ‘They fixed this before SIR even started – pure manipulation,’ he charged.
Abhishek demanded transparency: ‘Show us the Bangladeshi and Rohingya lists from SIR if they exist. This is BJP’s made-up crisis to suppress votes and kill democracy.’ He linked the process to fatalities and slammed the poll body for ‘BJP obedience’ in deletions masked as corrections.
As TMC mobilizes for the sit-in, the dispute exposes raw nerves over electoral integrity. Banerjee’s move signals a return to mass agitation tactics, while BJP portrays it as shielding illegals. With stakes sky-high, this clash could redefine Bengal’s political narrative ahead of key battles.