West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took out a mega rally along with her nephew, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, on the day when the Special Intensive Revision(SIR) exercise began in the state. After the rally, which was more than 3 km long, Banerjee, in her speech, sounded a warning to the BJP, saying, “Even if one voter is removed, we will break the BJP government.”
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo warned that she will intensify her fight and leave no stone unturned to protect eligible voters, empasizing the right of every citizen to vote. “They are taking away the citizens rights, and now they are going to give citizens their rights?” she asked.
The CM went on to ask the BJP about the Rohingyas and Bangladeshis in Bihar after the recently concluded SIR. “ How many Bangladeshis and Rohingyas were you able to remove from Bihar,” asked Banerjee while also questioning why the SIR was not being conducted in BJP-ruled states. She also asked why Assam was not part of the SIR.
The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is being conducted in Assam, and that is the reason for not undertaking SIR in the state, the EC had said.
The TMC chief told her supporters at the rally that the BJP could not capture West Bengal because the state has a history of revolutionaries.
“Actually, they (BJP) are eyeing Bengal because they know that if they can capture all states by fear, they cannot capture Bengal as it has a history," she said, while suggesting the BJP is orchestrating the SIR in her state via the EC as the saffron party wants to capture Bengal in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Abhishek Banerjee gave out a strong message of taking the fight to New Delhi.
The TMC claims that seven people died and some attempted suicide over over fears of SIR and NRC, though both exercises are not connected. The SIR is part of the electoral process conducted by the EC while the NRC is conducted by the home ministry.
“This fight is not to make Mamata the chief minister, but to reduce the BJP to zero seats," said Abhishek.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari slammed the TMC while addressing a public meeting in Sodepur in the Northern fringes of Kolkata. “TMC will not achieve anything with this (the rally). Infiltrators and illegal voters will remain on the list," he said.
“It (the rally) is completely an unconstitutional programme and she (Mamata) is directly challenging the constitutional process of India. This rally is to protect infiltrators, especially Bangladeshi Muslims and Rohingyas," he claimed.
BJP leader Amit Malviya too attacked Banerjee over her comments at the rally saying she crossed the line in her attempt to protect illegal Bangladeshis. “This isn’t the first time she has insulted Bhagwan Ram or Maa Durga from the stage — it has now become ingrained in her very nature. It’s never a slip of the tongue; she does it deliberately and cunningly every time to consolidate her only vote bank," he said in a social media post.
Banerjee sent out a symbolic message in her rally by emphasising the presence of Hindu community Matua community voters who are also the BJP’s vote bank. The TMC also tried to strike an emotional chord with voters by calling on stage families of victims who allegedly committed died by suicide over SIR.