Vote to take revenge: Mamata Banerjee to electors on Bengal SIR deletions

The Trinamool Congress supremo made the appeal while addressing an election rally in Samserganj, which emerged as the epicentre of violence during protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act in Muslim-majority Murshidabad district in April 2025.

In Short

• She accused Amit Shah of orchestrating deletion of names
• Mamata also took aim at the Election Commission over SIR
• Polls to be held in Bengal in 2 phases on April 23 and April 29

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday urged people to use their votes in the upcoming Assembly polls to "take revenge" on behalf of those whose names were deleted from electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.

The Trinamool Congress supremo made the appeal while addressing an election rally in Samserganj, which emerged as the epicentre of violence during protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act in Muslim-majority Murshidabad district in April 2025.

She told the gathering: "Cast your votes to take revenge for deletion of people's names, and against the SIR so that the results reflect that."

Launching a scathing attack against the Election Commission (EC), CM Banerjee accused the body of "deleting names of some, while intimidating some others" under the guise of SIR in West Bengal, according to news agency PTI.

In a veiled attack, she alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was behind the deletion of voters' names during the exercise. "If you have the guts, fight directly," she said.

She also questioned the need to conduct the SIR while asserting that the same electoral rolls used in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections could have been used in the forthcoming Assembly polls.

"If the voter list contained names of infiltrators, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister also won with their votes earlier, so they should have resigned first," she said, per a report by PTI.

BENGAL POLLS HEAT RISING FAST

The political landscape of West Bengal is witnessing a sharp increase in political mudslinging as parties and leaders leave no stones unturned to take their rivals down a peg in the run-up to the Assembly polls slated to be held in the state later this month.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an election rally in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district. He sought to corner the state's Trinamool government over the gherao of judicial officers in Malda.

He accused the ruling party of running a "maha jungleraj". PM Modi also framed the 2026 assembly polls as a straight fight between the "bhay" (fear) spread by the Trinamool Congress and the BJP's "bharosa" (trust).

Polling for the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in two phases, the first on April 23 and the second one on April 29. The counting of votes is scheduled for May 4.

- Ends
(With inputs from PTI)