Mumbai: Veteran actor and senior BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty on Thursday launched a sharp attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of deliberately spreading misinformation about the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking citizens in BJP-ruled states. Speaking to reporters after arriving in Kolkata to attend a series of BJP programs, Chakraborty dismissed Banerjee’s recent statements as a “desperate attempt to mislead the public” ahead of the upcoming elections.
“Bengali-speaking people have not faced any kind of unnecessary harassment anywhere in the country. Actually, Trinamool Congress is running short of issues before the elections. So the Chief Minister is trying to create a false narrative on the issue and trying to instigate common people, which she has always done,” said Chakraborty, asserting that there is no targeted discrimination against Bengalis in any part of India.
Refuting allegations that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is selectively removing names of Bengali voters from the electoral rolls at the BJP’s behest, Chakraborty clarified that only those who entered the country illegally and managed to register unlawfully are being removed. “Names of genuine Bengali voters are not being deleted from the voters’ list anywhere in India. Only those names are being deleted who infiltrated illegally and subsequently managed to get their names enrolled,” he explained.
Chakraborty further alleged that West Bengal has the highest number of such illegal infiltrators whose names were added to the voters’ list through dubious means. “Trinamool Congress leadership is aware that with the names of these infiltrators deleted, they would not be able to win even 70 of the 294 seats in the 2026 Assembly elections. That is why they are panicking and opposing the Election Commission’s special revision drive,” he claimed.
He urged grassroots BJP workers to support the Election Commission in identifying such illegal entries in the voters’ list to ensure fair elections in the state. “Our workers must assist in protecting the integrity of the electoral rolls,” he added.
