‘Don’t dare to hurt Bengal or I will shake the nation’: Mamata to BJP

She was referring to the BJP-led NDA’s landslide victory in neighbouring Bihar, where elections were held weeks after the SIR was conducted.

Asserting that the BJP will not return to power at the Centre, as well as in its bastion Gujarat, the TMC chief said, “2029 will be a dangerous time for you (BJP). Your government will not stay in power in 2029. Hurting the people of Bengal is like hurting me. If you hurt me, I will shake the nation. After the elections (Bengal Assembly polls), I will tour the nation. Remember, an injured tiger is more dangerous.”

Hitting out at the EC for carrying out the SIR exercise in a “hurried, chaotic” manner, the chief minister said, “Three years should have been given for carrying out the SIR. Proper training to BLOs should have been given. But keeping in mind the Assembly polls, you (EC) are doing it in two months in Bengal. Just to please your political bosses and to try and grab power in Bengal. Will the Election Commission decide who will choose the next government?” she said, adding that all help would have been given to the poll panel if it had done SIR properly.

“Three BLOs have died, so far. One of them wrote in her suicide note that the Election Commission is responsible for her death. Over 30 people have died due to panic after the SIR was announced in Bengal. How many more deaths do you want?” she added.

Accusing the BJP-led government at the Centre of “branding” anyone who speaks in Bengali as Bangladeshi, the chief minister said that had she not been born in Birbhum, the BJP would have labelled her as Bangladeshi.

“If one speaks in Bengali, they treat him or her as Bangladeshi. I was born in Birbhum, or else they would have branded me a Bangladeshi too,” the TMC chief said, referring to the crackdown on Bengali-speaking migrants in the BJP-ruled states.

Reaching out to the Matua population in the state, the TMC chief stated that her party stands by the community.

“You are paying money to get Hindu cards and Matua cards (given to community members by the BJP-dominated Matua Mahasangha). Such certificates will highlight that you are a Bangladeshi. I would advise one not to go for such cards. Every time elections come, in 2016, 2021, and in 2024, the BJP starts talking about CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act). But when elections are over, they are nowhere to be found. I would ask all of you not to panic. We will protect you. We will not allow a single genuine voter’s name to be cancelled,” she added.

“Don’t panic. We will help you out. Like the Duare Sarkar (government at your doorstep) programme, we will reach out to you. Those who do not have caste certificates, we will help them get one. We will help if there is a need for any document,” the chief minister said.