Voting for Cong will split non-BJP votes and benefit saffron party: TMC's Abhishek

Kolkata: Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Monday urged people not to vote for the Congress, claiming it would only strengthen the BJP

Addressing a rally at Jalangi in West Bengal's Murshidabad district, the TMC national general secretary alleged that the Congress has a nexus with the BJP and the Left, and voting for its candidates would split non-BJP votes and benefit the saffron party.

"In 2024, many voted for CPI(M) and Congress as they knew the TMC government would remain till 2026. But this election is not just about giving TMC a fourth victory -- it is also about ousting the B and C teams of the BJP and teaching a lesson to those who have stopped your rightful central funds while being in power at the Centre," he said.

In a scathing attack on the saffron party, Banerjee said, "The BJP has deployed three agencies in Murshidabad district, and three agents are in charge of it."

"The first is the EC headed by Gyanesh Kumar, who is busy deleting the names of people. The second agent is Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, whose security is provided by Shah's central forces. The third agent is Humayun Kabir's Janata Unnayan Party and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM," he alleged.

"Did they (Congress) help you (electorate) when your name was missing from the voter list due to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls? No party other than the TMC fought the Election Commission and the BJP valiantly to ensure your names figure in the electoral rolls," he said.

"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee unmasked the EC and BJP's role in SIR and ensured the publication of supplementary lists and setting up of tribunals. Only we opposed this diabolical game plan to deprive citizens of their voting rights from the beginning. Congress and other parties did nothing. We will always be on your (people's) side," he said.

Informing that he reviewed the status of SIR updates every evening, Banerjee said, "I stay engaged with block and panchayat-level officers to ensure appeals are filed. Do not worry, no one's name will be deleted."

Banerjee also accused the BJP and other "vested interests" of trying to stoke communal tension in Murshidabad in the run-up to the polls.

Asking the electorate not to fall into the trap of those who are instigating riots in Murshidabad, he said, "Those taking money and instigating violence in Murshidabad should remember that the same security protecting Shah also protects certain opposition leaders."

"Yet agencies like ED-CBI do not act against them," Banerjee said, hinting at the role of certain political parties behind the violence.

He asked the electorate, including members of the minority community, not to allow outside leaders to meddle in their affairs in Murshidabad.

He said those whose names were deleted from the final electoral rolls should appeal to tribunals and assured them that the TMC would extend all help.

"I have come here to request you to give TMC a lead in all the 22 seats in Murshidabad," he said.

At a rally in Malda, he claimed that in Chanchal and Harishchandrapur, around 1.8 lakh people were kept under adjudication.

"Respond to them democratically. After the 21st, if you see any BJP leader, build resistance and gherao them. There will be no place in Malda for leaders from Bihar or Uttar Pradesh," Banerjee said.

He said Bengal belongs to all regardless of identity or religion.

"But if new people are brought in through Form 6 for votes, block the area and inform me -- I will come. They must be taught in the language they understand."

Elections to the 294-member Assembly will be held in two phases - on April 23 and April 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.