Mamata Banerjee Launches Overnight Dharna Against Alleged BJP-EC Conspiracy
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took to the streets of Kolkata on Friday, staging a protest dharna at the Metro channel to denounce what she termed a "BJP-Election Commission conspiracy to disenfranchise Bengal's voters." She declared that the upcoming assembly elections would be a "farce" if genuine voters are prevented from participating, vowing to expose the alleged plot through her overnight demonstration.
Allegations of Mass Voter Removal and EC Bias
In a fiery address from the dharna stage, Banerjee accused the BJP of orchestrating the removal of over 1 crore people from the state's electoral rolls via the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. She claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had threatened two senior Election Commission officials to enforce this agenda. The CM specifically targeted Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging he used "logical discrepancies" in SIR forms to exclude women, SC-ST community members, Muslims, Biharis, and long-term voters.
Banerjee highlighted cases where individuals declared dead on the electoral roll were present at the protest, stating, "Look at them. They are sitting here, but have been declared dead on the voters' list. BJP and its agents in EC have crossed all limits." She promised to elaborate further on Saturday.
Trinamool's Call for Boycott and Demands to EC
Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee joined the protest, issuing a "boycott BJP" call to Bengal's 10 crore residents, urging social and political ostracization. He criticized the EC's handling of voter lists, noting that 58 lakh names were removed in the draft list published in December, with over 60 lakh voters placed "under adjudication," affecting more than 1.2 crore people. Abhishek questioned, "If 60 lakh people can be kept under adjudication, why cannot the PM's chair be kept under adjudication?"
In a letter to CEC Gyanesh Kumar and Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal, Abhishek demanded daily release of supplementary voters' lists based on judicial scrutiny and notification to affected voters. Both leaders mocked BJP's Paribartan Yatra, with the CM describing it as a "five-star hotel" with amenities.
EC Full Bench Visit and Political Backdrop
The Election Commission's full bench is scheduled to arrive in Kolkata on Sunday night, remaining until Tuesday to review poll preparedness. Election dates are expected after their return to Delhi. The dharna, which began around 2 pm, featured prominent Trinamool figures including Mahua Moitra and Firhad Hakim, with brief disruptions from para-teacher protests. Cultural icons like singer Kabir Suman and poet Joy Goswami recalled Banerjee's Nandigram movement struggles.
This protest underscores escalating tensions in West Bengal as political parties gear up for the assembly elections, with allegations of electoral manipulation taking center stage.
