Suvendu slams Bengal Govt for ‘blocking’ voter list revision
The Statesman | 6 August 2025
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, on Tuesday accused the Trinamul Congress-led state government of deliberately not cooperating with the Election Commission of India (ECI) in executing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.
Drawing a comparison with Bihar, Adhikari said the Nitish Kumar-led government has extended full support to the ECI for preparing a revised voters list, while the Bengal government is resisting the process to “protect its vote bank of fake and illegal voters, including Bangladeshi and Rohingya Muslims.”
Speaking to reporters in Siliguri, Adhikari said: “The question is who holds the real power — the ECI or the state government? As per the Constitution, the ECI will prevail. Once the SIR begins in Bengal, the power equation will be settled.”
He asserted that genuine Indian Muslims have no reason to fear the SIR, but illegal immigrants would be removed from the rolls before the 2026 Assembly polls. “Hindus from Bangladesh will be recognised as refugees and given Indian citizenship under the CAA,” he said. “Already, over 3 lakh illegal entrants have been pushed back to Bangladesh. This process will continue, especially against illegal Bangladeshi Muslims.”
When asked about senior MP Kalyan Banerjee’s decision to resign as TMC’s Chief Whip in Lok Sabha, Adhikari remarked: “Kalyan Banerjee is an experienced leader who joined politics before 2011 and played a crucial legal role during the Left regime. He should not be compared with Abhishek Banerjee, who entered politics post-2011 from Delhi, using Mamata Banerjee’s shadow and surname.”
Launching a scathing attack on chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her “appeasement politics,” Adhikari declared, “I defeated Mamata at Nandigram in 2021, and I will defeat her again in Bhawanipur in 2026.”