Kolkata, Mar 20: Alleging that an “unofficial President’s Rule” has been imposed in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday claimed that people’s citizenship could be “taken away” in the name of NRC and Census after the assembly elections in the state.
Addressing reporters while unveiling the TMC’s election manifesto, Banerjee alleged that large-scale voter deletions, bureaucratic reshuffles and future delimitation plans were part of a conspiracy to tilt the electoral field in favour of the BJP.
“The Centre is planning to take away people’s citizenship in the name of NRC and Census after the polls,” she alleged, urging people to remain vigilant.
Banerjee accused the Election Commission of acting in tandem with the Centre, claiming that the scale of administrative reshuffle has effectively created conditions akin to President’s Rule in the state.
“They have already imposed President’s Rule, though not officially. Their activities prove it,” she said.
Targeting the EC over the ongoing SIR exercise, Banerjee said large-scale deletions could affect lakhs of people.
“I have heard that out of nearly 60 lakh cases under adjudication, around 22 lakh have been disposed of, and nearly 10 lakh names may be deleted. We need to cross-check these figures,” she said.
Banerjee alleged that people from “a particular community” were disproportionately affected in the exercise, while also claiming that Hindus from communities such as Matuas and Rajbanshis were among those whose names might be removed.
Her remarks came against the backdrop of uncertainty over the publication of the first supplementary voters’ list, which was expected on Friday.
“This is how they are wasting days. Who knows whether the process will even be completed before the elections,” she said.
Banerjee also trained her guns on what she described as “unprecedented” transfers of senior bureaucrats and police officers, claiming that officials who had no role in election-related work were being moved out of the state and appointed as observers in other states.
“In elections, some transfers do happen, and the EC has that authority. But there are limitations. Normally, only those directly linked to election duties are shifted and that too based on complaints,” she said.
Banerjee cited the example of senior officials from the food department, panchayat department and public works department being moved out, warning that such actions could disrupt governance and disaster management in the state.
“If ration supply stops or if there is a crisis after a cyclone or heavy rain, people should not blame me. These officers were looking after development work and essential services,” she said.
Banerjee also claimed that more officers from the state could soon be transferred and replaced by officials from other states who lack familiarity with Bengal.
“They don’t know the people here, the geography, the culture or even the booth and block structure of the state. Who will manage all this,” she asked.
“The EC is transferring officers at the BJP’s behest so that money and arms can be smuggled into Bengal before the elections,” she claimed.
She alleged that the BJP had long harboured plans to redraw Bengal’s political map.
“They have a plan to carve out a new state by separating north Bengal and merging it with parts of Bihar,” she claimed.
Banerjee claimed that a delimitation exercise would be used in the future to reshape parliamentary constituencies to favour the BJP in the next Lok Sabha polls.
“They know they will not return to power. That is why they are planning NRC, Census and delimitation to remove more names from the voter rolls,” she alleged.
Responding to the allegations, state BJP president Shamik Bhattacharya said the CM was repeatedly raising the spectre of President’s Rule because she wanted to portray herself as a political victim.
“People are asking why this government is still in power and why it has not been dismissed yet. We tell them that imposing Article 356 to remove elected governments is not in our DNA,” he said.
He claimed the CM was attempting to create a situation that would allow her to claim political martyrdom if the Centre intervened.
“She wants such a situation where Article 356 is imposed so that she can go to Delhi and say her government was dismissed,” he claimed. (PTI)
