I will win from Bhabanipur even if only one voter is left, says Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday (March 2, 2026) came down heavily on the Election Commission of India (EC) for deleting the names of voters from the electoral rolls in different parts of the State, including her constituency, Bhabanipur. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief said that she would contest and win from the Bhabanipur Assembly seat even if one voter was left in the electoral roll.

“I know the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leaders who have ensured that 10,000 to 30,000 voters are deleted from constituencies where the Trinamool Congress has won. I gave you the example of my constituency, Bhawanipore. But let me tell you, I will win from Bhawanipore even if there is only one voter left on the voters’ list,” the Chief Minister said, addressing a gathering at Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor Stadium.

There were 2.6 lakh voters in Bhabanipur during the first stage of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the State, Ms. Banerjee said, and the EC had removed 44,000 voters. “This time, you deleted 2,000 voters and put 14,000 [voters] under the logical discrepancy West Bengal. Why are these voters missing?” she asked.

The remarks by the TMC chairperson appear to confirm her candidature from Bhabanipur in the upcoming Assembly election. Ms. Banerjee had contested the 2021 Assembly election from Nandigram and had lost to the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari by a narrow margin. Later, she contested and won from Bhabanipur.

Over the past few months, Mr. Adhikari has claimed that the Chief Minister is on a sticky ground in Bhabanipur, based on the voting trend in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

The EC on February 28 published the draft electoral roll for West Bengal with 7.04 lakh electors, an 8.09% drop from 7.66 crore, which was the number of electors in the State before the SIR was started in October 2025.

The 7.04 lakh electors include about 60 lakh electors under adjudication by the judicial officials appointed in accordance with a recent Supreme Court order.

Expressing displeasure over the SIR, the Chief Minister said that about 1.2 crore people of West Bengal were on the verge of losing their voting rights. Accusing the EC of trying to manipulate the election, she said that the people would give a befitting response to it.

“From the Supreme Court to the EC, I have raised my voice against this. We have peacefully cooperated with them. We have been patient. But today, I must say that the people of Bengal are ready to give a befitting response to those who have deliberately deleted genuine voters,” Ms. Banerjee said.

She also sought support from the people on the dharna (protest) planned by her against the deletion of voters by the EC. The Chief Minister has said she would sit in a dharna against the EC from March 6.

Ms. Banerjee also came down heavily on the BJP’s ongoing ‘Parivartan Yatras’, and said they would bring about the party’s destruction. “After deleting the names of so many voters, they (the BJP) are taking out ‘rath (chariot) yatras’ in five-star vehicles. This rath yatra will politically be their last journey. It will be their vinaash (destruction) yatras,” Ms. Banerjee said.