Mamata Leads Massive Kolkata Rally Against SIR, Vows To ‘Topple Delhi’ Over Voter List Purge

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a huge procession from Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s statue to Thakurbari, Constitution in hand, joined by lakhs, including Matua and other communities, to protest the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Firing sharp barbs at the BJP and the Centre, Mamata warned she would bring down the government if even one eligible voter’s name was struck off the rolls. Calling SIR “an assault on people’s existence and democratic rights,” she likened it to past upheavals: “First came demonetisation; now a citizens-lockdown.” She questioned the timing, with polls months away, calling it “vote theft in the name of legality.”

Rejecting any link between language and citizenship, she declared, “Speaking Bengali doesn’t make one Bangladeshi, just as speaking Hindi or Urdu doesn’t make one Pakistani. India belongs to all.” Slamming the demand to re-prove identity, she asked, “Will we now have to show papers to prove we belong to our own country?”

Mamata Banerjee speaks against the Special Intensive Revision, which was initiated by the Election Commission of India. (ETV Bharat)

Mamata accused the BJP of luxury and corruption while ordinary people suffer: “They travel in convoys of hundreds of cars while farmers go hungry. BJP wins by notes, not by votes.” She also charged the Centre with spreading fear and using AI and social media to distort and defame opponents.

Pointing to anomalies, a village in Alipurduar that lost nearly 200 names since 2002, she alleged large-scale exclusion and paid Aadhaar enrolment. “If the voter list is false, the central government is false too,” she said, warning that the BJP planned to erase twenty lakh names to capture Bengal. “They want to wipe out the poor and minorities; we will not allow it," she stated.

Mamata accused some ED officials of extortion, said institutions have been hollowed out, and mocked the BJP’s religious posturing: “They preach religion after sipping Patanjali’s milk.” Without naming the prime minister, she condemned those “stained by the blood of riots” for preaching patriotism and called them “traitors in the mould of Mir Jafar.”

Backing her on the stage, Abhishek Banerjee urged a “Delhi Chalo” movement, saying lakhs had already marched and promising a stronger push if given more time. He claimed SIR notices had driven people to despair and even death, vowed to protect Matua and Rajbangshi communities, and warned that Bengal would answer in the streets and in Delhi if a single fair voter’s name was dropped. “Those who ask for our papers should first show their fathers’ and grandfathers’,” he said, pitching for unity across communities.

Closing the rally, Mamata urged Bengal to rise: “Remove this government from Delhi, then no card will be needed. If anyone is wronged in the voter list, Bengalis will take to the streets. This is a fight for the soul of Bengal. I respect positions, but there are limits. Now is the time to speak truth to injustice.”