BJP will face a sting in 2026, says Abhishek; accuses ECI of being ‘BJP’s puppet’ over SIR
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee while raising his protest against the harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states and also against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar by the Election Commission of India (ECI), said that the BJP will not dare to mess with Bengal after 2026 Assembly elections as the people of Bengal will give a befitting reply to them.
Attacking the BJP-led Centre, Banerjee on Monday said: “If BJP thinks that their political failures can be avenged by unleashing violence on the people, they’re delusional. Bengal humbled them in 2021. Crushed them in 2024. And in 2026, we’ll make sure the defeat stings so hard, they’ll think twice before messing with Bengal again.” He also held Union Home minister Amit Shah responsible if people from Bangladesh have intruded the country. “Any serious conversation on illegal immigration must start with one demand: the immediate resignation of Amit Shah. Border security is BSF’s mandate, and BSF reports to the Home Ministry. So, if infiltration happens, it’s not a state failure, it’s Amit Shah’s failure. He must own it and quit.”
He further stated that the BJP has always stood against Bengal and against everything Bengal represents. He accused the BJP of having a “Bangla-birodhi agenda”.
“The very Bengal that led India’s freedom movement. The very Bengal that gave the nation its first Nobel. And yet, it’s this Bengal that BJP continues to hate and insult.
Referring to the Pahalgam terror attack, he said: “The Pahalgam terror attack was a catastrophic FAILURE that unfolded right under the Centre’s nose. Innocent lives were lost. Blood stained the soil. And what has the nation received in return? Deafening SILENCE. Deliberate INACTION. Disgraceful DENIAL. Who was responsible for securing the area? BSF, CRPF, Intelligence Bureau, the Home Ministry — all under the Central Govt.”
Attacking the ECI on SIR, he said: “The ECI is no longer an independent institution, it’s behaving like BJP’s personal puppet, nodding to every order and bending over backwards to serve their interests. Democracy deserves better and we stand against this dangerous mockery of neutrality!”
“The SIR exercise has been weaponised by the ECI to offer undue advantage to BJP and facilitate electoral malpractice in the upcoming polls. This is deliberate election manipulation,” he further added.
Meanwhile, Trinamool MP Saket Gokhale on Monday said 1.26 crore voters have been “deleted” from Bihar’s electoral rolls following the SIR exercise and challenged the Centre to a debate on the issue in Parliament. Sharing the ECI’s SIR data in a post on X, Gokhale said the poll panel “conveniently” did not share any information regarding its claim of having found foreign nationals in Bihar.
