'Tie up BJP leaders to trees and posts during SIR campaign': TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee's remark courts row

Abhishek, who also happens to be the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Wednesday made the controversial remark while visiting the house of a Panihati resident, who the TMC claimed to have committed suicide out of fear of National Register of Citizens (NRC) after SIR was announced by the ECI.

The TMC MP has also challenged Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other BJP leaders and ministers to produce their documents.

In this line, Abhishek asked people to "tie up" BJP leaders and ask for documents from them first.

He said, "Does Gyanesh Kumar have his father's name listed in the voter list? Will he be able to produce his document? Will Amit Shah be able to produce his father's birth certificate? Will the Prime Minister or any other minister be able to produce their documents? Will the Election Commission employees be able to do it?"

"Gherao BJP leaders and ask for their documents if they come to the localities for campaign (of SIR). Do not assault but tie them up to the trees and posts. Do not untie them until they are able to produce the certificates of their ancestors," the TMC leader added.

Hitting back at Abhishek, Leader of Opposition and BJP strongman Suvendu Adhikari said, "He (Abhishek Banerjee) is afraid that the days are not far when Mamata Banerjee will be ousted and her nephew will be behind the bars."

Addressing a press conference a day after SIR for 12 states including West Bengal was announced, Abhishek on Tuesday trained his guns at the ECI accusing the poll body of acting as an extended arm of the country's ruling BJP, which runs the Centre and desperately wants to oust the TMC regime in the eastern state.

"Gyanesh Kumar is a man on a mission and this (backdoor NRC through SIR) is his mission. This is exactly why he has been sent as the Chief Election Commissioner. He was earlier with Mr Shah, who is now the Home Minister and Cooperation Minister, and has worked as a Cooperative Secretary," said Abhishek, who is the second most important member of the TMC after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"After losing in 2021, they are using the decision-making bodies, central agencies, from the back door to control Bengal. Now similarly, they are using SIR to introduce a backdoor NRC," he added.

"Our party’s stand on this has always been clear, that SIR’s intention is not really a revision but an exclusion on how to remove voters from the voter list and take away their rights, and deprive people of their fundamental rights is their only aim," the TMC leader added.

Abhishek has threatened to gherao the ECI office in Delhi with one lakh people if one genuine voter is deleted from the final voter list after the conclusion of the drive.

He has also challenged Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is in charge of Delhi's administration, to stop the TMC's gherao plan.

"I have said this before and I say this again. If a single genuine voter’s name is removed, one lakh people will gherao the ECI’s office in Delhi. If you have the guts, Amit Shah’s Delhi police should try and stop us," he said.

"Do SIR, but I challenge them that if a single genuine voter is removed, Delhi will witness Bengal’s might. October 2023 was the trailer, but you will see the full cinema in the coming days. Bengal, Gujarat, and MP are not the same," the TMC MP added.

"The way ECI is acting like an agency of BJP, I am warning them, as a parliamentarian, that sooner or later the government will change. BJP and Amit Shah won’t stay but the Constitution will," he said.

Abhishek has claimed even after SIR, his party TMC will return to power in the next year assembly elections while the BJP's tally will tank to below 50.

"Today, I tell them again that we will increase our seats in 2026 even if by one seat, there is no space for losing. And BJP will decrease to 50. If you have the guts, accept the challenge," he said.