TMC to win at least one assembly seat more than its 2021 tally in Bengal: Abhishek

Kolkata, Jan 2 (PTI) Ahead of the 2026 assembly polls in West Bengal, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on Friday asserted that the ruling party will win at least one seat more than its tally five years ago.

The TMC had, in 2021, won 213 seats in the 294-member assembly.

Addressing a rally in Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district, he alleged that the "anti-Bengal" NDA government at the Centre "blocked funds for road projects and the 100-day rural employment scheme, and "now it wants to deprive poor people of their democratic rights through the ongoing Special Intensive Revision' (SIR) of electoral rolls.

He also claimed that the BJP was responsible for the "unplanned" SIR exercise that "led to the deaths of many people in the state".

The Election Commission had on December 16 published West Bengal's draft electoral rolls following SIR, deleting the names of more than 58 lakh voters on various grounds, including death and migration.

"My battle to fight against such forces starts from today. Mark my word - the TMC will win at least one seat more than our tally in the 2021 assembly polls," the Diamond Harbour MP said while addressing the rally.

During the TMC programme, Banerjee presented three people, including a woman in the district, claiming that they were reported dead in the SIR draft rolls. "How come they are present here?," he asked. PTI SUS BDC