Abhishek Banerjee presents 3 'dead' voters at TMC rally; takes on EC, BJP
Trinamool Congress's Abhishek Banerjee launched the party's 2026 election campaign by highlighting alleged voter roll discrepancies. He presented individuals marked as deceased, accusing the Election Commission of targeting Bengalis and questioning the deletion of Bangladeshi names. Banerjee criticized the BJP for issuing notices to common people for SIR hearings, drawing parallels to demonetization.
Baruipur: TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee introduces three people, claiming that they were reported dead in the SIR draft rolls, during a public rally ahead of the West Bengal Assembly election. (PTI Photo/Manvender Vashist Lav)
BARUIPUR: "I will make three ghosts walk," said Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee as he ushered in three people on stage - two men from Metiabruz in Kolkata and a woman from Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas - who he said had been marked dead during the SIR of Bengal's voter rolls. Flagging off Trinamool's campaign for the 2026 assembly election with a rally in Baruipur on Friday, Abhishek made it clear that SIR would be the front-and-centre of the party's poll pitch. Abhishek said, "The day before yesterday, we visited the EC's office in Delhi. I asked (chief election commissioner) Gyanesh Kumar to publish the list of Bangladeshis whose names have been deleted. He couldn't do it. Instead, he raised his finger at me. I told him, you are nominated, we are elected. Who are you showing aggression to?" "They thought Trinamool would go on the backfoot if they showed slight aggression. But, we have shown what it is to be a Bengali. One day Abhishek Banerjee went (to meet the CEC), Mamata Banerjee will go, too. Who will save you then?" Abhishek added. Introducing the three people - Monirul Islam Molla, Harikrishna Giri and Maya Das - who were marked 'dead', Abhishek said there were many more such instances. "In this (South 24 Parganas) district, 24 people who are alive have been shown dead by EC," he said. The TMC leader in Lok Sabha then went on to slam BJP, saying: "In the name of logical discrepancies, 1.3 crore people were sent notices to attend SIR hearings. BJP can send (legal) notices to me and Trinamool workers. But why are notices being sent to common people? In 2016, they (BJP) made people stand in line for demonetisation. Ten years later, they are making them stand in line for SIR."