Boycott BJP socially and politically, TMC’s Abhishek urges people from Mamata’s dharna venue

Kolkata, Mar 6 (PTI) The political temperature in West Bengal rose sharply on Friday with TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee calling for a “social and political boycott” of the BJP, while accusing the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise over one crore voters through the SIR ahead of the upcoming assembly polls.

Addressing supporters from the stage at Metro Channel in central Kolkata, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has launched a dharna against alleged arbitrary deletions from voter rolls, Abhishek Banerjee said the time had come to move beyond the earlier “No vote to BJP” slogan and socially isolate the saffron party.

“In 2021, some civil society organisations had called for ‘No vote to BJP’. Today, before 10 crore people of Bengal, we say the BJP must be boycotted. Socially and politically boycott them,” he said.

Escalating the political rhetoric, Banerjee described the BJP as a “party of snakes that must be wiped out politically”, alleging that the party was trying to manipulate voter lists to influence the outcome of the 2026 assembly elections.

The TMC leader claimed the SIR exercise had resulted in large-scale deletions and uncertainty surrounding millions of voters.

“Already 58 lakh names had been deleted in the draft list. By February 28, the number rose to around 63-64 lakh. Over 60 lakh voters have been put ‘under adjudication’. That means more than 1.2 crore people are affected. BJP leaders had been saying this, months before the process started. This cannot be a coincidence,” he alleged.

According to official data released on February 28, as many as 63.66 lakh names, around 8.3 per cent of the electorate, have been deleted since the SIR process began in November last year, reducing the voter base from about 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore.

In addition, more than 60.06 lakh electors have been placed under the “under adjudication” category, meaning their eligibility will be determined through legal scrutiny in the coming weeks.

Banerjee alleged the move was part of a “conspiracy” to remove voters through what he called “logical discrepancies” in the rolls.

“They thought they could steal the election by deleting nearly one crore names. But the BLAs caught them,” he said, referring to booth-level agents of political parties.

Drawing parallels with the freedom struggle, the TMC MP said, “We have to fight this like we fought the British. Until these 60 lakh people get their rightful voting rights, the TMC will remain on the streets under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership.” Banerjee also questioned the Election Commission over the “under adjudication” category.

“If 60 lakh citizens can be kept under adjudication, why can’t the Prime Minister’s chair be kept under adjudication? Remember, the Prime Minister was elected with the votes of these very people,” he said.

Taking a swipe at the BJP leadership, Banerjee claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah often mentions him in his speeches.

“They are very irritated with me. Whenever Amit Shah comes to Bengal, from the beginning to the end of his speech, he talks about me,” he said.

In a dig at the BJP’s criticism of the “under adjudication” tag, he quipped that even Rabindranath Tagore might have been put under such scrutiny had he been alive today.

The TMC leader also waded into a fresh political controversy after a BJP leader Sajal Ghosh, at a podcast, allegedly described former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly as a “dalal” (agent).

“If Sourav is a dalal, why did Amit Shah visit his Behala home in 2021 along with Suvendu Adhikari and Dilip Ghosh and eat luchi and alur dom there?” Banerjee asked, adding that Ganguly had “not bowed his head because he is a proud Bengali”.

“Luchi and alur dom” is a quintessential Bengali delicacy comprising ‘puri’ made of white flour and potato curry.

Banerjee further sought to draw a welfare comparison with BJP-ruled states, challenging the party to replicate the Trinamool Congress government’s flagship Lakshmir Bhandar financial assistance scheme for women.

“The BJP governs Assam, Tripura, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. Let them give Lakshmir Bhandar to 2.5 crore women without conditions. If they can do it, I will retire from politics,” he said.

The comments come amid an escalating confrontation between the TMC and the BJP over the voter roll revision, which the ruling party in the state has described as an attempt to “disenfranchise Bengali voters”.

With the Election Commission expected to announce the schedule for the 2026 West Bengal assembly polls soon, the controversy over voter lists and allegations of political interference has emerged as a central theme in the sharpening political battle between the two rivals. PTI PNT NN