File photo of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. | Photo credit: ANI
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday (April 4, 2026) called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah to hold a meeting with people whose names were deleted from electoral rolls in Malda district.
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“I urge Amit Shah to hold a meeting here in Malda and talk to the people whose names have been erased. BJP must fall at people’s feet and beg their forgiveness for causing them this suffering. I request people to respond through EVMs,” the Trinamool Congress president said while addressing a public rally in Malda. Mr. Shah recently accompanied BJP candidates, including Suvendu Adhikari, during nomination filing from Bhabanipur and said he would spend 15 days in the state where polling would take place.
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The district came under fire after thousands of court officials involved in the Special Intensive Review (SIR) hit a crowd of thousands. The officials were rescued by a large contingent of police on Wednesday night. The Supreme Court on Thursday came down hard on the protesters, calling it a “brazen attempt” to beat up policemen and challenge the authority of the apex court.
About 60,000,000 names were submitted for consideration, with a deletion rate of about 40%. More than 63,000 names have already been deleted from the state electoral rolls.
The main accused in the gherao, Moffakkerul Islam, a lawyer who contested the 2021 elections on an AIMIM ticket, was arrested by the West Bengal police. 34 others were also arrested before the case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Speaking at the meeting, the Chief Minister said, “The culprits behind the violence in Malda’s Motabari have fled while the investigators are harassing innocent locals in the name of investigation.
Alleging that the BJP has taken away people’s voting rights, Ms. Banerjee said, “Tomorrow they will take away your land and your language. You are not allowed to eat meat, fish and eggs in BJP-ruled states,” she said.
“I know many people who voted for BJP earlier will not vote for them this time. They understand that Bengal is being humiliated. Several members of their families have also lost their right to vote. Be it minorities, Hindus, STs and SCs, there has been a selective erasure,” she said.
The chief minister said some members of her own family had also been struck off the electoral roll and asked, “Are we all infiltrators?”
Referring to local issues like river bank erosion in Malda, she said, “One cannot catch a glimpse of ‘Mota Bhai’ when there is erosion. He is nowhere to be found when natural calamities strike and he only comes here and shouts during polls.”
The chief minister appealed to voters in Malda to support her party and said that the people of the constituency have voted for Congress and BJP in the past.
“You have voted for the Congress and the BJP in the Lok Sabha. If you vote for them in the upcoming Vidhan Sabha polls, who will fight for your voting rights?” she asked.
The district has 12 representative seats. In 2021, the Trinamool Congress won eight, while the BJP won four. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, of the two Lok Sabha seats, one went to the Congress and the other to the BJP.
Published – 04 Apr 2026 15:06 IST
