Mamata Banerjee, former Chief Minister of West Bengal, along with other leaders, during a press conference in New Delhi on October 01, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
The people of India will not forgive those responsible for snatching away their voting rights, former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday, even as she predicted an early demise of the Narendra Modi government before it completes its third term in 2029.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Ms. Banerjee — flanked by MPs from her faction of the Trinamool Congress from both Houses of Parliament, including her nephew Abhishek Banerjee — also questioned the immunity provision for the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) under a 2023 law.
“We believe that this time, the BJP will go and we do not have to wait up to 2029. See what happens. The game has begun,” Ms. Banerjee said.
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2029 poll prospects
Her remarks came a day after the INDIA bloc meeting. Responding to a question on the alliance’s prospects and her endorsement of Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi as the bloc’s Prime Ministerial face, she said the Opposition should first focus on immediate political issues, including the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
“See how long it will go on. Two months, three months, six months. I am not an astrologer. But I think, very soon, you will get the good news,” she said.
‘Hijacked election’
Alleging that the West Bengal Assembly election was “hijacked”, Ms. Banerjee claimed the Election Commission had centralised the special intensive revision (SIR) of the State’s electoral rolls, the State police functioned as a BJP wing, Opposition counting agents were forced out of polling booths, and 4,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs) were burnt without anyone being apprehended.
“We went to the court but did not get justice. We went to the EC with 100 victims. They insulted us,” she said, alleging that TMC MPs who sought a meeting with the CEC were told to “get lost”.
On voter deletions during the SIR exercise, Ms. Banerjee claimed the process disproportionately affected constituencies won by the TMC in the Assembly elections earlier this year.
“Wherever we won, four times more voters were cut,” she said.
Mr. Abhishek Banerjee alleged that in at least 150 Assembly constituencies, the number of deleted voters, along with those categorised under “logical discrepancy”, exceeded the victory margin. “The ECI delivered 150 seats to the BJP,” he said, adding that the government should confer the Bharat Ratna on CEC Gyanesh Kumar for “delivering West Bengal to the BJP”.
Ms. Banerjee also alleged that 200 to 300 BJP-backed “hooligans” gather outside her residence daily, preventing her from moving freely.
Published – October 01, 2026 06:27 pm IST
