Kolkata: West Bengal Trinamool Congress General Secretary Kunal Ghosh, on Tuesday, claimed that whichever voter’s list is voted on, Mamata Banerjee will again become the Chief Minister of West Bengal after the 2026 Assembly polls, with the party winning at least more than 250 seats in the 294-seat Assembly.
The statement from the Trinamool Congress leader came hours after the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, asked the Election Commission of India to take action against Chief Minister Banerjee for intimidating the Booth Level Officers (BLO).
Reacting to Adhikari’s letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, earlier in the day, Ghosh said that BJP leaders in the state were frustrated with no prospect of winning the election to be held next year.
“Sensing imminent defeat, BJP leaders have once again resorted to influencing the Election Commission of India to take steps which will go in their favour. We have seen this in previous elections as well, and every time the Trinamool Congress emerged stronger than before,” the Trinamool Congress leader added.
Exuding confidence that the Trinamool Congress will defeat the BJP in next year’s Assembly polls, Ghosh said that LoP Adhikari was talking out of his imagination.
“They (BJP) do not understand what the people of Bengal want. The Election Commission of India is being used politically. After we raised our voice on the matter, the Supreme Court and many other courts have made observations that legal voters should not be left out from any voter’s list. But whichever list is voted on, Mamata Banerjee is going to become the Chief Minister after winning more than 250 seats for her party,” he added.
In 2021 Assembly polls, the Trinamool Congress had won 213 seats while the BJP had bagged 77 seats.
On Tuesday, LoP Adhikari wrote a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, requesting the latter to take suo motu action against Chief Minister Banerjee for allegedly making unauthorised attempts to interfere in the electoral process by “intimidation and maliciously influencing the BLOs” in the state.
In the backdrop of speculations of a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) for West Bengal’s electoral roll taking place in August, the 2002 voters’ list of some districts has been made available online on the website of the State’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).
The last SIR of the voters’ list in West Bengal was conducted in 2002.
(IANS)
