'BJP manipulated voters' list to win in Delhi and Maharashtra': Mamata Banerjee

Mamata Banerjee

Questioning Election Commissions impartiality, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Bhartiya Janata Party, accusing them of electoral malpractices to secure victory in the recently concluded elections in Maharashtra and Delhi.

Elaborating further, Banerjee said the saffron party enrolled “fake voters” from other states in the electoral rolls with the “help” of the Election Commission.

Addressing party workers at Netaji stadium, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, asked TMC ground-level workers to be extremely vigilant so that 'such electoral malpractices' are not allowed to take place in the state, which is slated to go to polls in 2027.

The TMC chief also criticized the saffron party for allegedly trying to influence polling through the rushed appointment of Gyanesh Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). Banerjee also warned of an indefinite dharna before the poll body's office if corrective measures are not taken.

"In Delhi and Maharashtra, the BJP had won elections by enrolling fake voters from Haryana and Gujarat. The party will bring these fake voters from Haryana and Gujarat and try to win elections in Bengal as the BJP know that it can never win Bengal elections if polls are held in a free and fair manner," the TMC chief alleged.

"How the BJP is manipulating voters' list with the blessings of Election Commission is very much clear," she claimed. "If I can go for 26 days hunger strike (during the anti-land acquisition movement in 2006), then we can start a movement against the Election Commission too. If needed, we can go for dharna before the Election Commission's office for an indefinite period to press for demand to correct voter rolls and remove fake electors," Banerjee said.

Addressing the large gathering, the TMC supremo condemned the deportation of "illegal" Indian immigrants from the United States in chains, calling it "shameful", and questioned why the Centre did not send planes to bring them back.

“Whenever elections approach, the BJP talks about infiltration, but our citizens are deported from the US in chains. Those who returned were brought back in chains. Why? It is a matter of shame for the country,” PTI quoted her as saying.