Alipurduar, Jan 2 (PTI) Sharpening TMC's pre-poll attack on the EC and BJP, party leader Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday derided CEC Gyanesh Kumar as a "magician" for "arbitrary" voter deletions during the SIR
in West Bengal, and compared BJP MPs to "snakes" that would inevitably bite its own voters.
Renaming the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) as "Vanish Kumar", Banerjee alleged a deliberate conspiracy to erase legitimate voters from the electoral rolls, claiming the revision process was being carried out without transparency or accountability.
Addressing a rally in north Bengal's Alipurduar, a district where the BJP has consolidated its electoral footprint since 2019, Banerjee was speaking at the second of his 26 public meetings under the TMC's 19-day statewide campaign Abar Jitbe Bangla (Bengal will win again).
Taking direct aim at the poll panel, Banerjee alleged that eligible voters were being struck off electoral rolls without transparency.
"Do you know Gyanesh Kumar? He is a magician. He can make living people disappear from voter lists and make the dead walk. That is why he is now 'Vanish Kumar'," Banerjee said.
He claimed TMC leaders had approached the Election Commission in Delhi seeking disclosure of SIR data and procedures.
"We asked them to make everything public. But magic is happening. Living citizens are vanishing," he alleged, likening the exercise to demonetisation and accusing the Centre of misleading people.
"Ten years ago, people were made to stand in queues in the name of ending black money. Today, black money has increased. Ten years later, people are again being made to stand in lines. Earlier, people chose the government. Now the government wants to decide who will be a voter," Banerjee said.
Launching a scathing attack on the BJP, Banerjee warned voters against reposing trust in the saffron party.
"BJP MPs and snakes are the same. You may feed a snake milk and bananas, but a snake will still bite you," he said, urging voters not to "rear snakes" any longer.
Since 2019, the Alipurduar Lok Sabha constituency has elected BJP MPs, while the TMC lost all the Assembly segments in the district in the 2021 polls.
Calling the region central to the party's north Bengal revival, Banerjee said, "This time, Alipurduar must take the lead. TMC must win in every booth."
His remarks on BJP MPs drew sharp criticism from the opposition. West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya condemned the comments, calling them unacceptable.
"Such remarks from a senior politician and a national general secretary of a party are condemnable. There will be political differences, but they must not cross the line of decency," Bhattacharya said.
Shifting focus to local issues, Banerjee devoted a significant portion of his speech to tea garden workers, accusing the Centre and BJP representatives of neglecting the region despite repeated electoral mandates.
"We lost here, but we still spent Rs 1,500 crore on Lakshmir Bhandar for mothers and sisters. In 2016, the Prime Minister promised to take over tea gardens. Ten years on, there is not even a notification," he said.
He claimed the state government was building roads, primary health centres and creches in tea garden areas, alleging that the Centre had failed to release its share of funds.
"Ask your BJP MPs how many letters they wrote to Delhi for tea workers," Banerjee said.
Raising the issue of alleged central discrimination, Banerjee claimed that over the past seven years, the Centre had collected Rs 6.5 lakh crore from West Bengal through taxes and GST without proportionate returns. He also accused the BJP of attempting to undermine welfare schemes such as Lakshmir Bhandar.
On SIR-related complaints, Banerjee alleged harassment of elderly voters and said the exercise was being selectively enforced in Bengal.
Referring to recent floods in the Dooars region, Banerjee said while the Prime Minister and BJP leaders stayed away, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the affected areas. He also attacked BJP-ruled states, citing alleged deaths linked to "toxic" drinking water in Madhya Pradesh.
In a broader ideological attack, Banerjee accused the BJP of policing personal freedoms.
"I am a Hindu. This religion does not teach us to attack others. There is no religion bigger than humanity. If they come to power, they will decide what you eat, wear and where you go. Is this democracy?" he asked.
Calling the 2026 Assembly polls decisive, Banerjee urged voters to turn out in large numbers.
"Give TMC a chance. If we fail, remove us later. But if you do not strike back now, they will even try to take away your voting rights," he said, urging voters to use electronic voting machines to "teach a lesson" to those he accused of undermining democracy. PTI PNT ACD NN
