Kamal Ghorui
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party was threatening candidates of the All India Trinamool Congress, including state ministers, to secure their support if it falls short of a majority after the Assembly elections.She also claimed that the Centre was planning a delimitation exercise to trifurcate West Bengal, with parts of the state likely to be merged with Bihar or Odisha, which she said would cause difficulties for Bengali residents.
“The BJP is threatening TMC candidates, including state ministers, seeking their support if it falls short of the majority mark after the assembly elections,” Banerjee said while addressing poll rallies at Asansol in Paschim Bardhaman, Chhatna and Onda in Bankura district and Khandagosh in Purba Bardhaman.“The BJP is planning to bring in a delimitation bill to divide West Bengal into three parts. It may merge parts of West Bengal with Bihar or Odisha, and torture Bengalis there,” she added, as cited by PTI.Banerjee alleged that the BJP had entered into a Rs 1,000-crore deal to remove the All India Trinamool Congress from power in the state.Her remarks came in reference to a viral video of Humayun Kabir, in which he was purportedly heard claiming links with BJP leaders, including Suvendu Adhikari, and alleging receipt of Rs 200 crore as advance from a Rs 1,000-crore plan to split minority votes and defeat the TMC.The TMC has sought a probe into the matter, while the BJP and the Aam Janata Unnayan Party have dismissed the video as AI-generated.“They (BJP) have struck a Rs 1,000-crore deal to unseat the TMC from power in West Bengal,” she said. She also accused the BJP of bribing voters ahead of the elections and described the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as the “country’s biggest scam” in recent times.“The SIR is the biggest scam the country has seen in recent times. Everyone in the world knows that your government will topple in 2026. We will then scrap all the anti-people laws brought in by your government,” she said. “The BJP bribes voters before the elections. But they forget their promises soon after the polling is over. That was seen in the Bihar elections,”Banerjee further alleged that the BJP would attempt to influence the polling process and urged voters to remain vigilant and monitor voting machines.“Be alert about the voting machines. The BJP has planned slow voting and slow counting. Foil all their plans,” Banerjee said.She also alleged that the BJP was planning to offer “spiked tea and sweets” to people to “loot votes.”
