Mamata Ups Identity Pitch Against BJP; Suvendu Moves EC to Scrutinize Rohingyas in Bengal Voter List

PTI, July 16, 2025, Kolkata :  West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the state's Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari were seen marching in rain-soaked Kolkata on Wednesday over the contentious issues of "illegal infiltrators" and the "harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states," albeit from their opposing political poles.

These issues are expected to dominate political discourses in the state leading up to the crucial assembly elections in 2026. Banerjee reignited the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party's Bengali identity pitch and slammed the BJP-led Centre for what she called its policy of torturing Bengali-speaking people by labeling them as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and Rohingya Muslims.

On the other hand, Adhikari urged the Election Commission (EC) to ensure that the voter list in the state was free of Rohingya migrants.

The day also witnessed a Calcutta High Court directive to the Centre to place before it all records related to the litigations before the Delhi High Court over the deportation of people found to be illegally residing in the national capital. The court verbally asked the Centre's lawyer to "ascertain" whether there was any truth to the allegation that Bengali-speaking people were being questioned about their nationality in different parts of the country, after the Bengal government's counsel raised the issue.

Banerjee was addressing a public meeting after leading a protest march in central Kolkata against the alleged torture of Bengali-speaking migrant workers from the state. She was joined by TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, other senior party leaders, ministers, MPs, and thousands of supporters from Kolkata and its surrounding areas.

Adhikari, along with other BJP MLAs, held a separate march from the state assembly to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), where he submitted a memorandum.

Banerjee warned the BJP of dire political consequences if it did not immediately cease such actions, alleging that the Centre was "influencing the Election Commission of India" to achieve its political goals.

"I have seen a notification issued by the Centre in February this year, which states that people can be kept in jail for a month without trial under the slightest suspicion," she claimed.

The TMC supremo described the situation as "more than an emergency" and questioned the BJP’s actions, asking, "What has the BJP been doing after criticizing Indira Gandhi and observing an anti-Emergency day?"

"I will challenge those notices which were surreptitiously sent to BJP-ruled states to harass Bengali-speaking people," Banerjee declared during the rally, which terminated at Dorina Crossing in Esplanade after marching along a nearly three-kilometer route.

Stating that she was ashamed and disheartened by the Centre's and BJP's attitude toward Bengalis, Banerjee tore into the saffron camp's alleged persecution of migrant workers for speaking their mother tongue.

"I have now decided to speak more in Bangla from now on. Hold me in detention camps if you can, before you throw other Bengalis in jail," she said, adding that the BJP should prepare for a fresh round of 'Khela Hobey' during the 2026 assembly elections. The slogan "Khela Hobey" was coined by the TMC ahead of the 2021 state polls.

Banerjee also asserted that there are nearly 22 lakh migrant workers from West Bengal working in other parts of India with valid identity documents like Aadhaar and PAN cards, and that she would not tolerate any disrespect meted out to them on flimsy grounds. "What right does the BJP have to harass Bengalis like this, even arresting them and forcefully pushing them back to Bangladesh? Is West Bengal not part of India?" she asked.

Banerjee also criticized the EC’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the assembly elections there. "Whenever there is an election, the BJP starts removing names from electoral rolls. I request the Election Commission not to broker BJP’s agenda. I heard that they have deleted 30.5 lakh voters in Bihar. That’s how the BJP won the Maharashtra and Delhi elections. They are applying the same plans for Bihar and Bengal," she said.

"But here, we will fight them inch by inch and make them know that we will not give in so easily," she added.

Speaking from his opposite political stance, Adhikari described Banerjee's protest march as a rally to protect the Rohingyas. "We have Rohingya Muslims in almost all places of West Bengal. We have told the CEO to ensure that the voter list is free from any Rohingya infiltrators. If Rohingyas were removed from the voter list in Bihar, the same model should be followed in Bengal. We have also requested the CEO to conduct an immediate house-to-house survey for this purpose," he told reporters.

Adhikari also urged the CEO to ensure transparent operations, adding that the officer should seek 50 percent of state and central government workers on deputation for election-related duties. “Mamata Banerjee is not worried about changes in demographics. She is only concerned about the voters' list," he said.

Meanwhile, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court directed the Centre to file an affidavit regarding the petitioners' claim that they were already deported, and that the issue was being litigated before the Delhi High Court.