‘Bodol noi, badla chai’: Mamata Banerjee flips her 2011 winning election slogan

Mamata Banerjee urged Muslim voters to prioritise voting over religious pilgrimage, stating, “There is enough time to leave for Haj. Do not go without casting your vote. The state’s Haj committee will make all arrangements for your journey. If you leave without voting then they will enforce the NRC and all of you will be delisted.”

She further alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is a veiled attempt at mass disenfranchisement, claiming that if the authorities could delete names in Assam, “they can drive all of you out of Bengal.”

She questioned the deployment of nearly two lakh central personnel and CRPF armoured vehicles. “This is unprecedented. Are they trying to intimidate me by deploying so many forces? I want to see who has more power—the armoured vehicles or the people,” Banerjee asked.

Addressing a rally at Haripal in Hooghly district, the TMC chief alleged that the Centre’s priorities were misplaced and asked the Narendra Modi government to send the armoured vehicles to Manipur, where unrest has persisted for years, instead of West Bengal.

The chief minister drew a sharp comparison to national security, noting, “Terrorists come and kill Indians in Pahalgam, but they cannot act against Pakistan; however, for the Bengal polls, Modi brings in all forces.”

Banerjee criticised the Election Commission and the CRPF, accusing them of acting in favour of the BJP. “The central forces are saying ‘BJP zindabad.’ Our officials have all been transferred and they have been replaced by people who are agents of BJP. They would harass people and stop them from casting their votes. Where were the forces when the Pahalgam attack or Delhi blast happened?”

She claimed a list of 1,000 TMC workers had been prepared for arrest to influence the polls. “They will keep TMC workers and leaders in jail…seldom do they understand it is not TMC but people, voters who vote for us.”

CM Banerjee further attacked the BJP’s use of resources, citing the influx of hundreds of aircraft and helicopters, and alleged that the Railways were prioritising political transport over local needs. “They provide trains for bringing outsiders to Bengal, but not rakes for transporting our potato produce,” she said.

Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday also led a colourful roadshow in Howrah in support of Trinamool Congress candidates. She walked the two-kilometre stretch from Carry Road to Shankar Math along with party compatriots, waving at the crowd gathered on both sides of the thoroughfare of Howrah on the west bank of the Hooghly river opposite its twin city, Kolkata.

Polling in constituencies in Howrah is scheduled to be held on April 29 in the second leg of the two-phase elections in West Bengal.