‘Talking in Bangla doesn’t mean Bangladeshi’: Mamata Banerjee slams BJP as she leads massive protest in Kolkata

The demonstration, one of the largest in recent months, saw thousands of Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters pour into the heart of the city, waving party flags and chanting slogans against the alleged voter deletion drive.

Launching a scathing attack on the BJP-led central government and the Election Commission, Banerjee said the SIR process was instilling fear among migrant and working-class communities in Bengal.

“Many unorganised sector workers are worried that their names will be removed from the voters’ list. Talking in Bangla does not make one Bangladeshi, just as speaking Hindi or Punjabi does not make one Pakistani," Banerjee said during the rally.

"These people, who never fought for India’s freedom, don’t understand that India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were once one land,” she said.

Calling the BJP a “lootera party” (plundering party), Banerjee accused it of using government agencies, propaganda, and misinformation to suppress dissent.

“You may misuse your power today, but you won’t remain in power forever,” she warned.

Clad in her trademark white cotton saree and slippers, Banerjee led the 3.8-kilometre march from BR Ambedkar’s statue on Red Road to Jorasanko Thakur Bari, the ancestral home of poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Along the way, supporters lined balconies and pavements to catch a glimpse of the chief minister, who occasionally paused to wave at them.

She was joined by her nephew and TMC’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who used the rally to issue a direct warning to the BJP.

“The BJP should think that if we can bring together such a massive crowd in just two days, imagine the scale when we march to Delhi,” Abhishek said to thunderous applause.

“If even one genuine voter’s name is deleted, TMC will show the power of Bengal’s people in the capital," he said.

He alleged that panic surrounding the SIR had already claimed several lives. “In the past week, seven people have died due to the fear that their names would be struck off. Their family members are here with us today,” he said.

Abhishek also accused the Centre of misleading citizens through “CAA drama” and warned, “If you fall into their trap, you’ll lose everything just as 12 lakh Hindu Bengalis lost their voting rights in Assam’s NRC.”

BJP hits back: ‘Rally of infiltrators’

The BJP dismissed the rally as political theatre. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari termed it a “rally of Jamaat,” claiming it went “against the ethos of the Constitution.”

State BJP President Samik Bhattacharya said, “If Mamata Banerjee has grievances, she should move the Supreme Court. West Bengal is in chaos because of her misrule. She is calling Rohingyas into the state- does the public want them added to the voters’ list?”

BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya went further, calling the protest the “Ghuspathiya Bachao Yatra” (Save the Infiltrators March).

“Between 2001 and now, Bengal’s population has risen by 31%, but its voter list has grown by 67%. Where did these extra voters come from?” he asked.

Malviya accused Banerjee of hypocrisy, saying she once protested against illegal infiltration under the Left regime but now protects the same groups for political gain. “Mamata knows that once the voter list is cleaned, her fake vote bank will collapse,” he claimed.

Political flashpoint

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR), a nationwide exercise conducted across 12 states and union territories, aims to clean up electoral rolls by removing duplicate, deceased, or migrated voters. It is the first such revision in two decades.

However, opposition parties allege that the process is being selectively used to target minority and marginalised voters who traditionally support them.

In Bihar, where the first phase of the SIR was completed, more than 68 lakh names were deleted, sparking widespread outrage and prompting the Supreme Court to intervene.

With West Bengal now entering the second phase of the exercise, the TMC has vowed to resist what it calls a “voter purge.”

The BJP maintains that the revision is essential to ensure fair elections. “This is about cleaning inflated rolls, not politics,” said a party spokesperson.

As Mamata Banerjee’s rally concluded at Jorasanko with chants of “Bengal won’t bow,” the message from the streets of Kolkata was clear: the battle over the voter list has turned into the latest flashpoint in India’s most politically charged state.