SIR is like ‘Chaitra sale’, this poll is fight for identity, address: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

KOLKATA/CHAKDAH/BONGAON: CM Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday dubbed the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll a “got-up game”, likened it to the Bengali year-end Chaitra sale and assured those whose names have been struck off the voters’ list that “no one will be thrown out of Bengal”.

Her attack and assurance came at three rallies she addressed in Chakdah, Bongaon and Habra — prominent towns in the Matua belt of Nadia and North 24 Parganas, where the roll revision has led to mass deletion of names. The 2026 assembly polls, she said, will be a “battle for democratic revenge, a fight for Bengali identity and address”.




“Your names are being removed. Those who have been here for so many years are having their names struck off (the voters’ list), while those who arrived in 2024 are being granted citizenship swiftly through CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act). Some have their names on the list, while their neighbours do not. In one family, two members are on the list, but the other three are not. As if a Chaitra sale is going on. It’s all a game of manipulation — a got-up game with BJP leaders plotting to divide votes,” said Banerjee, who at one point compared the saffron party with a poisonous snake, “waiting for the right moment to strike Bengal”.

She said, “We will go to tribunals for those who have been excluded from the voters’ list. I repeat, we will not allow a single detention centre in Bengal. No one will be thrown out of Bengal. They are anti-Namasudra, anti-Matua, anti-Rajbanshi and anti-woman.”

Alleging that the SIR targeted select communities, CM Banerjee said, “You are excluding Matuas and Rajbanshis. The names of Matua electors have been deleted in Bagdah, Haringhata, Gaighata and Chakdah. Why this discrimination? Why are Matuas being targeted?... Countless names from minority communities have also been deleted in Murshidabad, Malda, North Dinajpur, South 24 Parganas and Nadia. In Bhowanipore, they had initially deleted 40,000 electors. Let’s see how many of them have finally been retained.”

She urged all those whose names have been deleted to file appeals before judicial tribunals, set up following a Supreme Court order. “We will go to the tribunals... We will try to do this before the Bengal assembly polls. They have conspired to ensure that names (cleared by tribunals) could be added only after the polls.”

The voters’ list for the first phase of the polls was frozen on Monday, while that for the second phase will be locked on April 9. No name could be added once the lists are locked.

Banerjee said those appealing before tribunals against deletion of names could provide documents other than the 13 that Election Commission had notified for the SIR.

Referring to BJP’s “divisive politics” in the Matua belt, she said, “To those who think they can play politics by dividing the Thakur family (which heads the Matua Mahasangh), I say: don’t talk too much. I know whose names are in the Anil Ambani case. Just because you are with BJP, ED and CBI are not going to your house. If you are with Trinamool, ED and CBI will come even if you do nothing. If you talk too much, I will unmask you.”

Continuing her attack on the SIR, Banerjee said, “Even the names of saints and seers have been struck off the roll. The names of 300 nuns from Missionaries of Charity have been removed. Even Ramakrishna Mission and Bharat Sevashram Sangha have not been spared.