CM Mamata clarifies on outsiders remark, says referred to a party, not people

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday (October 17, 2025) clarified her usage of the term ‘bohiragoto’ (outsider) and said that she was referring to a particular political party and not outsiders.

“They have taken one of my statements and deliberately twisted it to give it a different meaning. When I used the term ‘Bohiragoto’, I was clearly referring to a particular political party, a party that brings in people from outside the State. They add the names of ten outsiders alongside the names of our genuine voters, so that our own people are prevented from voting,” the Chief Minister said.

Ms. Banerjee made the remarks while inaugurating a Kali Puja in Kolkata. On Tuesday (October 14) had said alleged that Bhabanipur, the Assembly seat she has been representing, was being filled by ‘bohiragoto (outsiders)‘ in a planned manner.

“I see nowadays that in many places, slums of the poor are being demolished and big residential projects are being built there. I do not support this. Our voters are being driven away. Bhabanipur is being filled with outsiders in a planned manner,” Ms. Banerjee had said.

On Friday, the Chief Minister said that she had asked Councillors to remain vigilant against the manipulation but her words were misconstrued. 

“Under the guise of elections, many outsiders come here illegitimately. How can one person have their name registered in two places? That is what I pointed out and why I cautioned my Councillors to remain vigilant. Unfortunately, my words were deliberately misconstrued ,”she said. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari had challenged that he will defeat the Chief Minister from Bhabanipur in the Assembly polls next year.

The term ‘bohiragoto’ has often been raised by Trinamool Congress leaders in political discourse often aimed to target outsiders particularly those whose mother tongue is not Bengali. The Trinamool Congress leaders also describe the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a party of outsiders.

The usage of the term ‘bohiragoto’ is linked to the identity politics where West Bengal’s ruling party attempts to champion the cause of ‘Bengali Asmita (Bengali identity and language)‘. However, over emphasising on the term ‘bohiragoto’ poses the risk for the Trinamool Congress to lose the support base of a section of voters whose mother tongue may not be Bengali.