Mamata Banerjee Vows Victory in Bhawanipur Despite 60,000 Voter Deletions
By KUNAL CHATTERJEE
Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is firing back at claims of voter tampering in her own backyard, turning Bhawanipur into the new battleground for West Bengal's 2026 assembly elections.
On Monday, she alleged that nearly 60,000 voters, mostly from her small Bhawanipur constituency, have been deliberately excluded during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. "They have deliberately excluded names," she charged, standing firm with a bold promise, "Even if it's by one vote, I will win from Bhawanipur."
The controversy has political circles buzzing, especially after Nandigram stole the spotlight in the 2021 Assembly elections. Now, eyes are shifting to Bhawanipur as the potential epicenter of tension this time around.
BJP leader Dilip Ghosh didn't hold back on Wednesday, framing the fight in stark terms. "If you want to defeat the enemy, you have to go into their house and kill them," he said, drawing a provocative parallel to India's strikes in Pakistan. He accused Trinamool Congress of "starting anarchy" like Pakistan and declared that BJP is launching its attack right in Bhawanipur. "BJP has proven in Nandigram that Mamata Banerjee is not invincible. She can be defeated. If she can lose there, she can also lose in Bhawanipur," Ghosh added.
Ghosh also dismissed Trinamool's jabs at BJP's ongoing Parivartan Yatra, which kicked off from nine spots including South 24 Parganas last Monday. Describing massive worker enthusiasm for the six-day marches, he turned the sarcasm back, "If everything is perfect for you, why are you visiting Delhi and Kolkata so many times? They know they won't get votes this time."
Responding to Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee's prediction of 250 seats for his party and no more than 40 for BJP, Ghosh shrugged it off and said, "Dream as much as you want before the counting. The people will decide. We trust the people."
As Mamata Banerjee digs in for a fierce re-election fight in Bhawanipur, the stakes couldn't be higher, will her stronghold be retained, or will it become her Nandigram redux?
