West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 | BJP, with EC's help, tried to invalidate my candidature in Bhabanipur: Mamata

Banerjee accused the BJP of 'forcefully' deleting the names of 90 lakh voters from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP of colluding with the Election Commission (EC) to get her candidature from Bhabanipur seat in south Kolkata cancelled by attempting to file false cases against her. The bid, however, was foiled by TMC workers and the public, she claimed.

Banerjee, while addressing an election rally at Keshiyari in Paschim Medinipur district, accused the BJP of "forcefully" deleting the names of 90 lakh voters from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

"The BJP, with the EC's help, tried to invalidate my candidature from Bhabanipur by trying to file false cases against me, but we foiled their game plan," Banerjee, who is contesting against Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari to retain her seat, said without elaborating further.

She accused the BJP of "plotting to forcefully capture votes through fraudulent means as they don't have the guts to fight and win the elections democratically".

"This is why they are deleting voters' names. They are also planning to tinker with EVMs to turn the results in their favour," she said.

Sooner or later, justice will be served after the BJP's drubbing in the assembly polls and later their dislodging from power in Delhi, the CM said.

"More than 250 people have died due to the SIR exercise. Of the 90 lakh deleted voters, 60 lakh are Hindus while 30 lakh are Muslims... Since we speak in Bengali, are we not Indians? Do we need to constantly prove our citizenship?" she said.

On the BJP's promise to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in West Bengal if voted to power, Banerjee said that through UCC, the saffron party wants to impose its diktat on the people.

"It will be directed against backward communities and will be aimed at taking away the democratic rights of the people. We will not allow its implementation in West Bengal. We will scrap it once the BJP is finally dislodged from power in Delhi after our fourth consecutive win in the state," she added.

(With PTI inputs)