Kolkata, Jul 24 (PTI) BJP leader and actor Mithun Chakraborty on Thursday hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, dismissing her recent claims of harassment of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in other states as "baseless" and accusing her of spreading fear for political mileage ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
Chakraborty alleged that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was desperately trying to stall the Election Commission’s special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, fearing that the removal of names of "non-genuine voters" particularly those suspected to have entered the state illegally could drastically reduce its electoral prospects below 70 seats out of the 294-member strong state assembly.
“Trinamool Congress leaders know that once the names of infiltrators are removed from the voters’ list, they will not be able to win even 70 out of 294 seats in West Bengal in 2026. That is why they are panicking and opposing the EC’s revision drive,” he said.
Talking to reporters at the Haryana Bhavan in Jorasanko, North Kolkata, the veteran actor-turned-politician said Banerjee's remarks were aimed at "stirring controversy" and "creating unnecessary panic" among the people of Bengal.
"She wants to create controversy in everything. Nothing is going to happen. Bangla language will remain as it is. Mamata Banerjee has no monopoly over it. We will put up a strong fight," Chakraborty, a former TMC Rajya Sabha MP, said.
He had resigned from the TMC in 2016 and joined the BJP in 2021, just a month ahead of the Assembly polls.
His comments came days after Banerjee, while addressing a public rally, alleged that Bengali migrant workers were being harassed in states like Gujarat and Maharashtra and warned against what she described as the BJP's "linguistic terrorism".
She also accused the EC of deleting names of minority and migrant voters from the electoral rolls in Bengal and neighbouring Bihar, and called upon her party workers to ‘gherao’ the Commission’s offices in protest.
Reacting sharply to the TMC supremo’s call for agitation, Chakraborty said such tactics were meaningless.
“The Election Commission must act. Fake and bogus voters have to be removed; only then will elections be fair. Even if the Commission is gheraoed, what will that achieve? What is the point of such protests?” he said.
Citing his own experience, Chakraborty said, “I myself have a hotel in Bengaluru, where most of the workers are Bengali migrants. There are no Bangladeshis. If anyone is illegally staying (in India) from Bangladesh, let them be identified, but these generalised claims are politically motivated.
Rejecting Banerjee’s allegations that genuine Bengali voters were being struck off, he said, “Only those who infiltrated illegally and got themselves registered as voters are being weeded out. Names of genuine Bengali citizens are not being deleted anywhere in India.
Chakraborty also urged BJP workers across Bengal to actively assist the Election Commission in identifying such “illegal entries” in the voter rolls.
“This is a collective responsibility. Our karyakartas should come forward and help the Commission in identifying infiltrators whose names have wrongly entered the rolls,” he said.
In an internal meeting with booth-level committee members from two Assembly segments in North Kolkata, Chakraborty called for party unity and grassroots mobilisation ahead of the polls.
“Forget internal fights. No more this dada or that dada. Our only leader is Narendra Modi. I will campaign at the grassroots. Come together, resist if you are attacked, and reach out to every voter at every booth... We are not the old BJP or the new BJP. We are just the BJP. In 2026, we will form the government,” he said.
The TMC, meanwhile, has been opposing the EC’s special revision drive tooth and nail. Banerjee has even alleged that it was an indirect attempt to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Bengal.
Chakraborty asserted that it was West Bengal that had witnessed the highest infiltration, which was allegedly exploited by the ruling party to build an illegitimate voter base.
“Those who were deliberately brought in and settled here have now become a liability for the ruling party, and that’s why they are raising such a hue and cry,” he claimed.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh hit back at Chakraborty, saying, “He used to praise Mamata Banerjee when he was made a Rajya Sabha MP. Now he’s saying all this only to save himself from court cases.”
“Once vowed to stand by Mamata’s side, now he has switched sides for self-interests,” Ghosh added.
The ongoing face-off between the TMC and BJP comes amid rising political temperatures in Bengal, with both parties gearing up for a high-stakes battle in the 2026 elections.