Suvendu warns of President’s rule if Bengal polls delayed

Jalpaiguri (WB), Oct 16 (PTI) Asserting that the 2026 Assembly elections will bring a change in government in West Bengal, BJP state president Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday said President's rule will be imposed in the state if the poll process is not completed on time.

Addressing a public meeting at Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri district, Adhikari said the polls would not be held if the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is not completed.

"If the poll process is not completed by May 4, there will be President’s rule in the state thereafter," he said.

Asserting that the TMC will be defeated in the elections, Adhikari said the SIR will prove to be the "semifinals" before the polls.

Maintaining that the difference between the votes secured by the TMC and the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was only 42 lakh, he said "Around 2.4 crore names, which are illegally enrolled in the voter list, will get deleted." Adhikari asserted that the names of illegal immigrants and that of those not otherwise eligible will not remain in the electoral list following the SIR.

"I will defeat Mamata (Banerjee) in Bhawanipur," Adhikari said at the meeting after leading a BJP rally to protest the assault of party Lok Sabha MP Khagen Murmu.

Banerjee had won from Bhawanipur in a by-election after Adhikari defeated her in the Nandigram seat in the 2021 Assembly elections by a little over 1,900 votes.

The result in Nandigram is currently under legal challenge in the Calcutta High Court.

Reacting to statements by some TMC leaders warning of protests if voter names are deleted in the SIR, Adhikari said, "We will hold rallies with the slogan: ‘No SIR, no election’." He also addressed flood-affected residents of north Bengal, stating that the BJP would provide funds for their rehabilitation.

"Upon winning the elections, we will provide relief to tea garden workers of north Bengal," the BJP leader said.

Stating that Murmu, the BJP MP from Malda Uttar, belongs to the Scheduled Tribe community, Adhikari said the Adivasi morcha of the party have held protests across Bengal against the assault of the veteran parliamentarian.

Maintaining that it will take another two months for Murmu to become fit, he claimed that the arrests made by the state police in connection with the assault were only an eyewash.

Adhikari said the BJP wants an NIA probe and a court-monitored investigation in the case.

Murmu and BJP MLA Sankar Ghosh were injured in an attack by a mob during their visit to flood-hit Nagrakata on October 6.

BJP MPs Manoj Tigga (Alipurduar) and Jayanta Roy (Jalpaiguri), along with several MLAs, also participated in the protest rally at Nagrakata town.

They alleged that goons affiliated with the ruling TMC carried out the attack when Murmu and Ghosh visited a flood-hit village in Nagrakata to assess the situation.

Landslides and flash floods triggered by torrential rain left 32 people dead across north Bengal on October 5.

Adhikari had earlier in the day visited Murmu at a hospital in Siliguri, where the MP was admitted following the attack. PTI AMR MNB