Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar (L) and Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee.
Credit: PTI Photos
Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar and Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee exchanged scathing barbs on Friday over the upcoming Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, which escalated into personal jabs and even abusive exchanges.
Majumdar, a former state BJP president and Union Minister of State for Education, threatened to use central forces and said even firing could take place if there was any discontent about the SIR exercise, which sparked the verbal altercation.
His comments drew an angry reaction from Banerjee, the veteran TMC MP from Sreerampur, who accused Majumdar of threatening Bengal's electorate and challenged him to visit his constituency.
"Let the Election Commission remove just one voter and see what happens. We will bring everything to a standstill," Banerjee, a four-term MP, fumed at a public event, lacing his speech with aggression.
"That boy who became a minister, please tell him CISF bullets will hit them. Come to Sreerampur if you have the courage. Let's see how you go back home," Banerjee thundered, calling the Union minister 'tui tokari' (a dismissive Bengali term meaning you worthless fellow).
Majumdar, in a sharp counterattack, said Banerjee's comments reflected "a loss of mental stability and political decency".
"A sitting MP is threatening to shoot a Union minister; this shows his mental state. They have crossed the age for active politics and should be sent to old-age homes," Majumdar told reporters in Balurghat.
"He talks like a child, without realising what he is saying. I am accepting his challenge. I am going to Sreerampur tomorrow. Let's see how big a 'baper beta' (son of his father) he really is," the BJP leader added.
The slugfest has reignited tensions between the BJP and TMC amid the prospective politically sensitive revision of electoral rolls, with both sides accusing each other of trying to manipulate the process for political gain.
While the TMC maintained that Majumdar's remarks were provocative and aimed at "terrorising voters", the BJP defended its leader, saying he merely reiterated that law and order would be maintained during the SIR exercise.
With Majumdar set to visit Sreerampur on Saturday, political observers say the confrontation has taken on the shape of a symbolic "showdown" between the BJP's central leadership and the TMC's local stalwarts.
On Thursday, BJP state president Suvendu Adhikari asserted that the 2026 Assembly elections will bring a change in government in West Bengal and said President's rule will be imposed in the state if the poll process is not completed on time.
Addressing a public meeting at Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri district, Adhikari said the polls would not be held if the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is not completed.
"If the poll process is not completed by May 4, there will be President’s rule in the state thereafter," he said.
(With PTI inputs)