Immediately after filing her nomination for the Bhowanipore seat, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee hit the campaign trail in Hooghly’s Arambagh and Balagarh on Wednesday. Launching a blistering attack on the BJP and the Election Commission, she questioned the sudden freezing of the tribunal process regarding the ‘SIR’ voter list. “If citizens cannot vote, what is the point of these tribunals? We have the right to know and the right to vote. We will challenge this legally,” she asserted.

Targeting the BJP’s cultural politics, the TMC supremo alleged that the saffron party aims to dictate the dietary habits of Bengalis. “They want to ban fish, meat, and eggs. Bengalis live on fish and rice; will they eat my head next? Voting for BJP means losing your language and your plate,” she claimed. She further described the BJP’s welfare promises as a trap, stating, “They give a thousand rupees first, only to bring the bulldozer later.”

The Chief Minister also linked the exclusion of names from the electoral rolls to the NRC (National Register of Citizens). Terming it a strategic ‘move’ (Chhakka) by the Centre, she warned that she would ‘neutralize’ (Akka) such attempts to protect the identity and address of the people of Bengal. She urged the masses to vote for TMC to safeguard their linguistic and cultural heritage.