Won't let anyone take away people's voting rights till I am alive: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday (August 28) took a pledge that she would not let anybody snatch people’s voting rights. Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), she also said the state’s main Opposition party was unleashing “linguistic terror” on Bengalis.

The chief minister has been vocal against alleged attacks on Bengali migrant workers in other parts of the country, especially in states ruled by the saffron party.

Banerjee, who was addressing a rally in Kolkata to mark the foundation day of her Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) student wing – Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) – alleged that more than 500 teams of the BJP from across the country were deployed in Bengal to carry out surveys to delete names of voters from electoral rolls.

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“You must yourself check whether your names are still there or have been struck off from the voters' list... You must ensure you have Aadhar cards,” she told the rally held at the city's Mayo Road.

“I will not let anyone take away people's voting rights till I am alive,” she thundered.

Mamata targets EC, says it's targeting state officers

The TMC supremo, who will seek her fourth straight term in 2026, also took a dig at the Election Commission, saying it was intimidating officers of the state government.

“The EC is threatening our officers. Its jurisdiction is only for the three months during elections, not throughout the year,” she said.

Banerjee’s words come at a time when the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance is holding a strong protest movement against the controversial Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in the neighbouring Bihar ahead of its Assembly elections in a few months.

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Speculation is rife whether a similar exercise would take place in Bengal before next year’s election. Both the TMC and BJP are at loggerheads over the matter.

CM vocal against 'linguistic terror'

On the allegations of attacks on Bengalis, Banerjee accused the BJP of trying to make people forget the role that the community had played during India’s freedom movement.

“If there is no Bengali language, then in which language are the national anthem and national song written? They want people to forget the historical role played by Bengalis in the freedom movement. We will not tolerate this linguistic terror,” she said.

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“Their predecessors were agents of the British who gave undertakings to get out of jails,” she claimed, slamming the BJP.

Mamata slams Modi government

The chief minister also said that while her government has undertaken various social welfare initiatives, the one led by the BJP at the Centre indulged in corruption in the name of development.

“We have brought the 'Lakshmir Bhandar' scheme for women, while the BJP has 'corruption bhandar' and nepotism. They are looting the nation, while we are empowering women," she alleged.

Also read: ‘Dead’ voters walking in Bihar, hundreds deleted from rolls in villages near Patna

She also hit out at the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left, accusing it of joining hands with the BJP to take her on.

“The CPI(M) government in Kerala is claiming that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose fled the country in fear of the British. We condemn this," she said.

(With Agency inputs)