- Mamata Banerjee claims she cannot leave home due to post-election political tension in Bengal
- She accuses BJP of fostering anarchy and targeting Trinamool leaders with attacks and protests
- Banerjee criticized Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over electoral roll revision issues
Former West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday claimed that the political fallout of the Bengal election has become so intense that she can no longer even step out of her home.
Accusing the BJP of unleashing what she called "anarchy" and "autocracy" after its big electoral victory, Banerjee spoke of a continuing atmosphere of political tension and alleged attacks on Trinamool leaders.
Banerjee vented her anger at the BJP while speaking at the INDIA bloc meeting in the Capital, where opposition parties discussed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the functioning of the Election Commission.
"I cannot move out of my house now," she said at the meeting, according to party sources, underlining what she described as a series of attacks targeting Trinamool leaders.
The political temperature in Bengal has remained high, with several Trinamool leaders facing protests and egg attacks. The Trinamool has alleged that these incidents were orchestrated by the BJP.
The BJP, however, has described the attacks as an expression of public anger against the Trinamool.
The latest flashpoint came last week, when Trinamool MLA Kunal Ghosh's car was reportedly blocked by an agitated mob in Hooghly. Eggs and stones were hurled at the vehicle, making Ghosh the latest Trinamool leader to come under attack.
At the meeting, Banerjee took aim at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the SIR controversy.
According to sources, Banerjee referred to the CEC as "Vanish Kumar" - a jibe she has increasingly used while accusing the Election Commission of removing voters' names from the electoral rolls. She also described the SIR exercise in Bengal as a "botched-up exercise" and demanded action against the CEC, according to sources.
The attack on the Election Commission came as more than 20 opposition parties gathered in New Delhi under the INDIA bloc banner to work out a joint strategy on the SIR exercise and the functioning of the poll panel.
The opposition bloc has demanded the removal of Gyanesh Kumar amid reports of differences within the Election Commission over decisions related to the SIR process. The Election Commission, however, has said that internal queries and differences among commissioners are part of institutional deliberations and has maintained that final decisions were taken through the established process.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, speaking at the meeting, put forward a set of demands centred on electoral rolls and voter rights. These included using the pre-SIR electoral rolls for future elections, ensuring an effective appeal mechanism before a voter's name is removed, protecting eligible voters from exclusion caused by administrative failures, greater transparency in electoral-roll revisions and a return to ballot-paper voting.
