Send "Delhi's two gentlemen" away to protect country from being sold, says Mamata to voters

Mamata Banerjee intensified her electoral campaign in North Bengal on Wednesday, addressing a massive public meeting in Maynaguri. Continuing her confrontation with the Election Commission, she placed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar—whom she referred to as "Vanish Kumar"—in the dock over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. She claimed that the "conspiracy" involving the SIR would lead to the BJP's downfall, asserting that she has fought from the streets to the Supreme Court to protect the voting rights of the people of Bengal.

Taking a sharp dig at the BJP’s interference in personal liberties, Mamata questioned the party's right to dictate what citizens should eat or what women should wear. She accused the saffron party of being a "party of advertisements" while positioning the Trinamool Congress as a "party of service." In an attack on local BJP leaders' threats of 'tying TMC leader to a tree and beating him', she stated that trees and forests belong to the people and should offer shade, not be used for violence. She urged voters to send the "two gentlemen of Delhi" away to prevent the country from being "sold."

The Trinamool supremo also focused heavily on the welfare of North Bengal, particularly the tea garden workers. She assured them that voting for TMC would ensure that tea gardens remain operational and the 'Chai Sundari' housing scheme continues. Highlighting local development, she listed projects worth crores, including the Jalpesh Shiva Temple skywalk, a new hospital, and a massive Rs 163 crore water project in the Maynaguri block. "They have taken everything away; I only have the people in my hands," she told the cheering crowd.

Warning against potential vote rigging, Mamata called upon the "mothers and sisters" of Bengal to remain vigilant at polling booths. She alleged a conspiracy between the BJP and the Commission to settle scores through the supplementary voter lists and Aadhaar card issues. By framing the election as a battle between Delhi’s "lies" and Bengal’s "deliveries," she exhorted the youth and women to lead the charge in the upcoming two-phase polls on April 23 and 29.