Abhishek Banerjee hits out at Amit Shah & his party leaders for insulting Sourav Ganguly | Watch

Abhishek Banerjee, All India General Secretary of the Trinamool Congress, on Friday accused the BJP of attempting to manipulate voter lists in West Bengal, calling the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process a “conspiracy to steal votes.” Addressing party workers, he alleged that nearly 1 crore voters were being removed under the pretext of ‘logical discrepancy.’ “The BLOs have caught this. This must be fought with the same spirit as the struggle against the British,” he said.

Speaking on the ongoing political dynamics in Bengal, Abhishek highlighted that despite central and state machinery allegedly supporting the BJP, the party remains unable to secure electoral dominance. “They’ve made wedding preparations, caterers’ plates are ready, the deity’s plate is ready… only the bride and groom are missing. They have everything, yet nothing. Trinamool has nothing. Only Mamata Banerjee remains, along with 10 crore people of Bengal,” he said, raising the slogan ‘Boycott BJP.’

On the controversy involving former cricketer Sourav Ganguly, Abhishek took a sarcastic dig at BJP leader Sajal Ghosh, stating, “If Sourav were a middleman, why did Shuvendu Adhikari and Dilip Ghosh in 2021 go to his house in Behala, sit there, and eat Luchi-Alu Dum without causing a scene? Because he is Bengali, he didn’t make a fuss.”

Addressing claims about ‘considered voters’ in the SIR process, Abhishek clarified that the party had no objections to individuals under consideration but emphasized the scale of voter removal in Bengal. “Already, 58 lakh voters’ names were removed from Bengal. By 28 February, the number was seen as 63–54 lakh. The number of ‘considered’ voters is over 60 lakh. Altogether, it totals 1.2 crore. BJP leaders had been saying this beforehand. This cannot be coincidental,” he stated.

Targeting the BJP, Abhishek urged party workers to socially boycott the opposition ahead of elections. “In 2021, some social organizations had said ‘No vote to BJP.’ Today, in front of 10 crore Bengalis, it is time to boycott BJP. Only Mamata-ji will decide. They are very annoyed with me. Today, if Amit Shah comes, I will be there from start to finish of his speech,” he said, quipping that even Rabindranath Tagore would have been “under consideration” today.