Political

An adieu to 2025 added a strong 'sound of music' to the barren Bankura landscape bitting the drums of war as the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hired the Mahabharata characters while setting her eyes on her enemies before the 2026 Assembly Elections.

 

She named Home Minister Amit Shah and the Election Commission as Duryodhana and Dushasana while delivering at her political rally here this afternoon. Immediately, she demanded Shah's resignation at once on the very day when Shah was present at Banerjee's citadel, aiming to expand saffron dynasty upto the Bangladesh border.

 

Besides, Banerjee mocked at the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar calling him as 'Vanish Kumar' in the wake of millions of 'valid' voters vanishing from the Electoral Rolls, which she believes, was outcomes of Kumar's 'tricky attempts' under the instructions of his Boss - Amit Shah.

 

Banerjee, aiming to secure her fortresses in South Bengal districts, was critical in handling her party men ahead of war time. She instructed: "No picnic, no fest, no celebrations this year. Just stand beside the mass troubled with SIR inconveniences." She chose harder lines to utter in no hesitation saying: "If any of you feel discomfort, you may leave the Trinamul Congress and join other party, we don't need to carry your burden any longer." 

 

Addressing a crowded political rally at the Birsinghapur ground here in Bankura where top district leaders from East and West Burdwan alongside Bankura were summoned to be present along with their followers today - the day Shah claimed in Kolkata that his party will grab two-third of Assembly seats in the 2026 Elections, Mamata growled: "Once you dared to say 'Abki baar Do So paar', and now you fumble to give a number. Instead you escaped saying a fictitious two-third. What is it?"

 

Banerjee rubbished Shah saying: "He appears like Duryodhana, and we are scared whenever he comes to Bengal - whether he's come to cause any harm to the state!" She added: "You seem to be a tyrant, an oppressor. Still, out of our etiquette, we are offering reception to you and behaving tenderly. Don't consider this as our weakness, I warn." She further mocked at Shah, saying: "We know that you don't like Bengali dishes, which is best in India." 

 

She then criticised Shah for his recurring family-cracy charges that he often puts forward against his opponents like the Congress or even the Trinamul Congress. Banerjee said: "How is your son enjoying the top berth of country's Cricket? Isn't it an example of so called family-cracy? What have you planned - only your son will earn, and the rest of common Indians will remain as mere spectators sitting in the sidelines," adding: "How much money you have sent abroad?" 

 

Banerjee recollected how the statue of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was destroyed in Kolkata during Shah's roadshow in 2021, and said: "You don't bother to learn what are the cultural legacies of Bengal and ridiculously dream to rule our state." She held Shah responsible for 57 deaths across Bengal during the Special Intensive Revision and instructed the Trinamul Congress leaders across the state to erect martyrs' alters in the respective locations to commemorate the series of deaths of shattered voters and confused Booth Level Officers. She then attacked Shah without naming him and demanded: "Home Minister, you should take the responsibility and must resign immediately."

 

The Chief Minister sharpened her attack against the BJP saying that the party was using the Election Commission to manipulate the Electoral Rolls steadily keeping an eye on the 2026 Assembly Elections. She alleged: "The IT Cell leaders of BJP are assigned to sit at the EC office to manipulate the Electoral Rolls purposely to discard names of valid voters of their choice or dislike. They even put fake signatures on behalf of the ERO (Electoral Registration Officer) and the ERO Association have protested the offense." 

 

About the controversial induction of the Booth Level Assistants during the EC's closed door hearings, the Chief Minister stressed the need saying: "Once they are allowed to assist during scrutiny and distribution of enumeration forms - then why they won't be allowed to be a part of hearings?" She then apprehended: "Actually, the BJP don't have BLA in adequate number and the EC is doing the job on BJP's behalf, which our BLAs may catch them in a red hand, so they discarded their entry. We pleaded for entry of BLAs of all parties, not just from the TMC alone." Further, she questioned: "Why some instructions on the matter are circulated in WhatsApp? It's not vslid officially at all."

 

She rubbished Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for his 'actions under the dictat of BJP' and said: "I know you are doing all these to protect your family. Remember, you will have to come back during the Elections and our people will welcome you with 'Naru' (commonly referred to as sweet, but also referred to crude bombs in rural Bengal)."

 

About Shah's charges of infiltration and Bengal's probable demographic changes,Banerjee said: "Out of 54 Lakh names dropped in the draft list, how many infiltrators did you find? In response to our MP, Saket Gokhale's question, your government had informed it's just a meager 11,200 during the preparation of Aadhar cards." 

 

The Chief Minister also lambasted against the BJP saying: "They even suspect my root in Bengal. They must know  - I was born in Birbhum and then was shifted to Kolkata. There are uncountable people falling victim to such bogus misconceptions these days." She said: "Don't you feel ashamed  - when you summon the 90 years old voters in your hearings to justify their citizenship?" She said: "I tell you further, we will unleash stronger movements if the 1.36 Crore names that you now have identified are not included in the final roll."