West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday (December 11, 2025) called Union Home Minister Amit Shah “dangerous” and warned that she would sit on a dharna if even a single eligible voter’s name were struck off the electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Launching a blistering attack on Mr. Shah, the Chief Minister said at a rally in Krishnanagar in Nadia district, “The country’s HomeMinister is dangerous. You can see it in hiseyes — it’s terrifying. In one eye, you see ‘Duryodhan’, and in the other, ‘Dushasan’.”
Alleging that the SIR was being used as a political weapon ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls, Ms. Banerjee said, “If even a single eligible voter’s name is struck off, I will sit on a dharna. There will be no detention camps in West Bengal. They are so hungry for votes that they are conducting the SIR just two months before elections.” Ms. Banerjeesaid that she had not filled out her enumeration form so far.
“Do I now need to prove my citizenship to a party of rioters?” she said, in an apparent reference to the BJP.
Accusing the Centre of targeting Bengalis, Ms. Banerjee said, “We have a [Union] Home Minister who can do anything to label all Bengalis as Bangladeshis and send them to detention camps. But we will not allow anyone to be driven out of West Bengal. We know very well how to bring someone back if they are forced out.” The Chief Minister further alleged that the Election Commission was deploying officers aligned with the BJP to influence the process.
“Some BJP-backed people are being sent from Delhi to keep an eye on things in West Bengal. They are overseeing the work of district magistrates during SIR hearings,” she claimed.
Published – December 11, 2025 04:37 pm IST
