In another display of defiance amid escalating political tensions ahead of West Bengal's assembly polls, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday launched a high-stakes sit-in protest, accusing the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of orchestrating a deliberate scheme to strip millions of Bengali voters of their democratic rights. The dharna, held at the Metro Channel in Esplanade, marked the opening salvo in what Banerjee described as a "people's battle" against the fallout from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The protest, which began around 2:15 p.m. and is slated to continue through the weekend, drew hundreds of Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters, local leaders, and affected citizens to the heart of Kolkata. Under a canopy of party banners emblazoned with slogans like "Save Bengal's Vote, Save Democracy," Banerjee took the stage to spotlight what she called "ghost deletions" - cases where living voters, including the elderly and marginalised communities, were erroneously flagged as deceased or shifted out of their constituencies.
In a dramatic highlight of the inaugural day, Banerjee invited several "resurrected" voters - individuals whose names had been wrongly removed from the rolls to share their stories directly from the platform. Among them were saints - the Hindu, BJP vow to protect - who recounted receiving ECI notices declaring them dead, despite standing very much alive before the cheering crowd. "These are not errors; these are erasures designed to silence our voices," Banerjee thundered.
“I have all the documents, I have my name on the 2002 voter list. I have Aadhaar card, voter card and every other document. I have been a sage all my life and now they are sending me notices, deleting my name from the voter list as if I am not Indian. This is very humiliating”, said a sage from the stage who was called by Mamata Banerjee.
The event also saw prominent members of the Matua community, a key Scheduled Caste group with deep roots in Bengal's border districts, ascending the stage in solidarity. Draped in traditional attire and waving placards demanding "Justice for Matuas, Justice for All," representatives from areas like Bongaon and Gaighata voiced fears that the SIR deletions - totaling over 63 lakh names statewide - disproportionately targeted their brethren, reopening wounds from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) debates. One Matua elder, speaking from the crowd said, "We fled persecution in Bangladesh generations ago, only to face exclusion here at home. Didi [Banerjee's affectionate moniker] is our shield."
Banerjee, flanked by TMC heavyweights including her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, didn't mince words in challenging her adversaries. "I will expose the BJP-ECI conspiracy to disenfranchise Bengali voters - mark my words, every plot will be laid bare before the nation," she declared, drawing roars of approval from the audience. Elaborating on the alleged foul play, she added, "They call it revision; I call it a robbery of rights. Over 60 lakh names vanished overnight, many from Matua heartslands and minority pockets. This is no coincidence - it's a calculated assault on Bengal's soul."
The chief minister's rhetoric echoed her remarks from the previous day, during a solemn observance of the death anniversary of Matua Mahasangha matriarch Binapani Devi. "The machinations of the BJP government at the Centre have pushed the Matua brothers and sisters into a volatile and confusing situation today... SIR is deliberately excluding them from the voter list. Those who are hereditary citizens of this country... are today being put in the face of uncertainty." On Friday, she doubled down: "We will not accept this injustice. Our struggle will continue against the ongoing attempt to take away the rights of the people of Bengal, including my Matua siblings. This is my pledge."
The SIR, initiated late last year, aimed to clean up voter lists but has instead ignited a firestorm. Official figures show the state's electorate shrinking from 7.66 crore to 7.04 crore, with another 60 lakh names under scrutiny. Critics, including opposition parties and civil society groups, argue the process lacked transparency, with deletions spiking in TMC strongholds and among demographics historically supportive of the ruling party.
BJP leaders swiftly dismissed the dharna as "theatrics," with state president Sukanta Majumdar countering that the revisions were routine housekeeping to prevent fraud. "Mamataji's drama won't fool the people; it's her fear of losing that's speaking," he said. Union Minister Giriraj Singh upon landing in Kolkata called the dharna a drama and “an attempt to protect Bangladeshis and Rohingyas”, a charge BJP had been maintaining for long without quoting any Home Ministry data as how many Rohingyas or Bangladeshis were caught in the state in the past one decade, since PM Modi came to power in 2014.
“They shout that Benggl is filled with Bangladeshis and Rohingyas, there is a response from the Home minister’s office to the parliament where they claimed that little more than 3000 people who are Bangladeshis have been caught and deported over the past decade. So why brand everyone else as Bangladeshi. They claim millions of Bangladeshis are here but reality the number is barely 3000. They build narrative using media for convenience. Never trust them” said Mahua Moitra, TMC MP from the dharna stage.
"Even one wrongful deletion is too many," Mamata Banerjee warned. "If they think they can bury Bengal's vote, we'll dig it up and march on Delhi”, she said before urging people to disburse and return on Saturday again.
