60% raise hands at Malda rally when Mamata asks if they lost voting right

Kolkata/Malda: Nearly 60% of the crowd raised their hands when CM Mamata Banerjee asked a rally in Malda's Enayetpur on Saturday how many people had been struck off the voters' list following SIR. The random sampling set the campaign tone as Banerjee ripped into BJP for making "a mockery of democracy".

"If everyone's voting rights are taken away, who will cast the votes?" she thundered, daring Union home minister Amit Shah to hold a rally at Enayetpur, around 40km from Kaliachak. Claiming that it was Shah "who instructs people to delete Muslim names from everywhere", the CM said he should face the people whose names have been wrongfully deleted.


To instil confidence among people, Banerjee later led a 3-km-long rally from Malda College Ground to English Bazar.

The outburst from the CM came immediately after she decided to conduct a survey of those deleted from the poll rolls at her rally. "Please raise your hands," she asked, prompting around 60% of those present to do so. Asking for the response to be captured on video, she said "BJP is a party that exhibits atrocity".

"BJP netas from Delhi have selectively deleted voters from minority, SC and ST communities. More than 250 people have died due to SIR… BJP's only religion is to incite violence. They kill people in the name of religion," she alleged.

"Mota Bhai (Shah) wants to sell Bengal. He wants to take away voting rights of the people of Bengal. He wants to create division among administrative officials. He wants to torture. Those who have come to office by instigating riots will never understand the problems people face. We have to take revenge against them democratically," Banerjee said.

Later, while addressing rallies at Malatipur and Gazole or leading a large rally through the most congested areas of English Bazar in the presence of all Trinamool councillors, Banerjee tried to instil confidence not just among voters but also among her party workers, who are worried about factionalism in the district. The CM has addressed 10 rallies over the last four days in Malda alone.

"Don't fall for any provocation. They want to create trouble and get 30-40 people arrested from every area. This is happening in Malda; innocent people are being arrested. NIA, CBI, ED, BSF and CISF are under Mota Bhai's control. Mota Bhai calls us thieves, but where does the money from the borders go? You brand people as infiltrators for speaking in Bengali. You [BJP] are the biggest infiltrators. They come here during polls to capture votes by force," the CM said.

Asking everyone "not to panic but to fight for their constitutional rights", Banerjee said: "AI has been used to delete 58 lakh voters. That chapter is yet to be opened. Sixty lakh voters under adjudication are all genuine voters. I organised a sit-in protest, went to fight for people in the Supreme Court as well. Out of 60 lakh people under adjudication, 22 lakh have been retained. Those who have been wrongfully deleted must apply before the tribunal. They should not approach the judges personally," she added.

Referring to Kaliachak, the CM alleged that two communal parties "had come and gheraoed the judge in Malda and fled," adding that every "voice of dissent" was being "choked".

"Local youths are now being harassed by NIA. Forty to fifty local youths have been arrested. We can't protest. However, it is not possible to silence the voice of people. Voting is your constitutional right," she said.

The CM warned that it was important to check EVMs as they are "manufactured by the Centre". "When you go to check the EVMs, ensure that the VVPAT is also there. Be very careful from the day of polling till counting. If needed, stay awake at night and keep vigil," she said.