Don’t be BJP’s lollipop, CM tells EC over ‘NRC in guise of SIR’
Times of India | 27 August 2025
Kolkata/Burdwan: "I respect you, but do not be BJP's lollipop," CM Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said, addressing the EC, reiterating her claim that the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was only an "NRC in guise" to strike off names from the voters' list.
TMC and Bengal govt have moved the Supreme Court against any SIR exercise in Bengal, which goes to polls in 2026.
"When elections are around, they bring up NRC and try to strike off names from the voters' list. The ECI, I respect you… If you do this, people of the country will not forgive you," Banerjee said. | Gold Rates Today in Kolkata | Silver Rates Today in KolkataReferring to BJP's "Bangladeshis in Bengal voter roll" claims to justify SIR, the CM said: "They say Bangladeshis live in Bengal. We were not even born before 1947, then why are they blaming us?""In 1947, after independence, what did you do during partition? While partitioning India, you partitioned Bengal and Punjab. In Andaman Cellular Jail, over 700 Bengalis were imprisoned. Around 90% of them were Bengalis and 10% were Punjabi freedom fighters. They (Britishers) knew that they could not suppress Bengal, that's why they divided Bengal and Punjab. There is one Punjab in Pakistan. We did not create Bangladesh next to us, it was you (BJP) and your forefathers. What can we do if the language is the same? Bengali is an international language," she said.