‘If voters' names are removed like in Bihar, we'll take fight to Delhi, gherao ECI office': Mamata Banerjee at July 21 rally
She was addressing a rally at Kolkata's Esplanade East to mark Shaheed Diwas.
Banerjee threatened to take the agitation to Delhi if, like in Bihar, voters' names are removed from electoral rolls in Bengal.
'I respect the EC Chair. But in Bihar, over 40 lakh names have been removed from the voters' list. They (Election Commission of India) are planning a similar move in Bengal. I'm saying it clearly — we will not allow that. We will take the fight to Delhi. If needed, we will gherao the Commission's office,' Banerjee said.
Referring to what she called a conspiracy against Bengali, the Bengal Chief Minister said, 'Bangla bhashar upor sontras cholchhe (there is a reign of terror on the Bengali language). Over 1,000 people have been detained and jailed in BJP-ruled states including Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh… Whoever speaks Bengali is being detained in BJP-ruled states.'
She also showed purported detention camp notifications to the crowd at the rally.
'Remember, Bengal took part in the freedom struggle. If people are jailed for speaking in Bengali, we will protest. I don't abandon a fight midway. Remember Nandigram, remember Singur. BJP must be removed from power at the Centre,' she said.
Banerjee also targeted Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. 'You can't control Assam but you're poking your nose into Bengal. If you continue this, I would ask Susmita Dev (TMC Rajya Sabha MP) to start a movement in Assam. We will all go there,' she said.
Announcing the party's protest schedule, Banerjee said, 'From July 27, we will hit the streets. Every Saturday and Sunday, we will protest in Bengal. I urge our MPs to demonstrate at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Delhi. Intellectuals and sports personalities will also take part.'
'We have over 22 lakh Bengali migrants outside Bengal. And around 1.5 crore migrants work in Bengal. We love Hindi, we love Gujarati. But why are you (BJP) conspiring against the Bengali language?' she asked.
Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal.
Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur.
He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More
Ravik Bhattacharya is the Chief of Bureau of The Indian Express, Kolkata. Over 20 years of experience in the media industry and covered politics, crime, major incidents and issues, apart from investigative stories in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Andaman Nicobar islands. Ravik won the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award in 2007 for political reporting.
Ravik holds a bachelor degree with English Hons from Scottish Church College under Calcutta University and a PG diploma in mass communication from Jadavpur University. Ravik started his career with The Asian Age and then moved to The Statesman, The Telegraph and Hindustan Times. ... Read More
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
7 minutes ago
- Time of India
Mamata Banerjee's migrant assault claim sparks fake video row; Delhi Police, BJP hit back
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused BJP-ruled states of mistreating Bengali-speaking migrant workers, questioning the silence of national commissions on the issue. This comes as Delhi Police refuted Banerjee's claim of assault on Bengali migrants in Delhi, alleging a fabricated video. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee , in Birbhum's Ilambazar on Tuesday, questioned the silence of the various national commissions on the alleged atrocities and harassment unleashed on Bengali-speaking migrant workers in the BJP-ruled states. Meanwhile, major controversy erupted after Delhi police refutes Banerjee's assault claim on Bengali-speaking migrants in Delhi in a video, which was allegedly "fabricated".Kanthi MP Soumendu Adhikari has filed a complaint with the cyber-crime branch of Delhi police against WB CM Mamata Banerjee for spreading a fake Commissioner of Police (East) Abhishek Dhania said in a press conference that the police had taken immediate cognizance of the video shared by the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee."The video is baseless and fabricated,' Dhania claimed. 'Upon inquiry, we identified the woman as Sanjanu Parveen. During questioning, she claimed that on the night of July 26, four men in plain clothes posing as police personnel took her and her child to a isolated spot and demanded Rs 25,000. She claimed that she had paid the money," Dhania said. However, the DCP said a detailed investigation was undertaken and CCTV footage was analysed."Following questioning, the woman admitted that her relative, a political worker from Malda district, had asked her to make the video. The video was then circulated locally in Bengal, and it became viral on social media," the officer said. Delhi Police claimed that the footage was deliberately created to defame the Delhi following call by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, around 800 migrant workers have returned to the state, Bengal police sources said. The Chief Minister has given a call to the migrant workers from West Bengal to return to Bengal and assured that her government would provide livelihood opportunities to these migrant workers and a scheme will be formulated.'If the migrants return to Bengal, we will also provide them with free ration and free medical treatment by giving them Swasthya Sathi card. We will also arrange for the admission of their children to the schools,' the Chief Minister claimed that the national commissions send delegations to West Bengal on minor issues like lizard bites, but they remain silent when the Bengali-speaking people are getting harassed in other states or they even killed or water and electricity connections are disconnected at their Chief Minister iterated that the Bengali-speaking migrant workers are being harassed in the BJP-ruled states. 'At least ten detention camps have been set up at Gurugram in Haryana. In Assam, lakhs of people had been sent to detention camps. Now, there is an attempt to bring NRC to West Bengal under the garb of the SIR by the Election Commission of India,' the Chief Minister BJP Leader of Opposition (LoP) in state assembly Suvendu Adhikari said, '"For the last few days, Mamata Banerjee has been spreading canards and misinformation continuously for the last few days. On July 27, she posted that a Bengali speaking woman and a child had been beaten up. The great liar of our state. I would urge Delhi based Bengalis to lodge an FIR against Banerjee," Adhikari said.'You are confusing between infiltrators and migrants. The infiltrators are those who entered from Myanmar to Bangladesh's Coxbazar relief camp and spread in entire India by entering Bengal from Bangladesh and Nepal.' Adhikari directed Kanthi MP Soumendu Adhikari to lodge an FIR in the cyber crime department of Delhi Police.
Time of India
16 minutes ago
- Time of India
BJP Kerala secy meets Chhattisgarh CM Sai, dy CM Sharma over nuns' arrest
1 2 Raipur: Four days after arrest of two Catholic nuns in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and attempted religious conversion of three tribal girls, Kerala BJP general secretary Anoop Antony Joseph on Tuesday held a closed-door meeting with CM Vishnu Deo Sai and deputy CM, who is also the home minister, Vijay Sharma, on the issue. He also met the nuns, who are now in judicial custody. Both the arrested nuns hail from Kerala. Nuns Preethi Merry and Vandana Francis, along with Sukaman Mandavi – the person who got the girls to Durg railway station -- were arrested from the station on July 25 on a complaint filed by a local Bajrang Dal worker who accused them of trafficking the girls to another state and indulging in forced religious conversion. Later, a delegation including Congress MPs Benny Behanan from Chalakudy and K Francis George from Kottayam, RSP MP NK Premachandran from Kollam and Kerala legislative assembly member Roshi M John met the CM and deputy CM. Congress MP from Koraput constituency in Odisha, Saptagiri Ulaka, was also a part of the delegation. After meeting the delegation, Sai said Chhattisgarh is a peace-loving state that believes in harmony and coexistence. "People of all religions live here with mutual respect and brotherhood," he said. Reassuring the delegation, CM stated that the matter is being investigated as per due judicial process. "Law is taking its course, there is no interference," he added, underlining the "safety and dignity of the state's daughters and citizens." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Discover how to go from draft to done in a few clicks—not a few hours. Grammarly Install Now Undo Talking to media persons, deputy CM Vijay Sharma said that based on statements recorded by GRP, an FIR was lodged in the case, that happened in Narayanpur district. "I met Anoop Antony Joseph and he briefed me with the information that he had. Everything is being done legally, and the case is in court. There have been instances in the past where women from Narayanpur have been trafficked in a similar manner. The matter is under investigation," Sharma said. There was drama at the jail as the Congress MPs were asked to wait and were allowed to meet the nuns only after Joesph, along with state BJP leaders, met them. They were asked to wait by the jail authorities for almost one and half hours to meet the nuns. The meeting took place only after the intervention of Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel. Talking to reporters outside the jail premises, Premchandran claimed that the nuns were innocent, and it was a deliberate attack on them. "We were allotted time to meet the nuns at 12.30pm, but we were asked to wait, and the meeting took place only after the BJP delegation met them. We staged a demonstration outside the jail," Premchandran said. He said that he couldn't disclose the details of the meeting with nuns. The three young girls were being taken for jobs and the nuns had come to receive them at the railway station. Then some Bajrang Dal people arrived and assaulted them, he alleged.
Time of India
24 minutes ago
- Time of India
West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari accuses CM Mamata Banerjee of threatening BLOs
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Kolkata: Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) complaining against West Bengal Chief Minister's indirect threat and intimidation of the BLOs. Meanwhile, West Bengal- Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) made voter lists from the 2002 electoral roll revision available said that 'Mamata Banerjee's assertion that BLOs are merely State Govt Employees and her attempt to intimidate and manipulate the electoral process by instructing BLOs to ensure that no names are removed from the Voter List , is clearly an unauthorized attempt to dilute the Voter Lists for political gain.'Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee , during her administrative meeting on Monday, said that the BLOs went for training in Delhi and she was not aware. She also pointed out that BLOs were state government employees and will also remain so after the polls. They should stay alert and keep in mind that not a single voter's name gets deleted during roll revision, if SIR is implemented in Bengal, Banerjee has said.'This is unacceptable. How can elections be fair if the Chief Minister pressures officials and challenges the ECI's autonomy? It is a direct attack on our democracy. I have written to the Election Commissioner of India, urging the ECI to take suo moto cognizance of her remarks that interfere with the duties of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and undermine the ECI's authority,' Adhikari the 2002 voters' list of some districts has been uploaded online on the website of the West Bengal-Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). Sources said that the list that has been published on the website of the of the State's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) contains the names of 11 districts — Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda in North Bengal and Nadia, Howrah, Hooghly, Medinipur and Bankura in the south.
