Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], November 2 (ANI): West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Monday said the people of the state had no grievance with the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and claimed the recent polls were the first impartial election in 70 years.
Speaking to the media at the BJP's 'Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao' march in Kolkata, Bhattacharya said opposition criticism of SIR was for the sake of opposition alone.
"The people of West Bengal are not unhappy with the SIR. As for the opposition parties in West Bengal, their criticisms are merely for the sake of speaking," he said.
He claimed that for the first time in seven decades, the state had witnessed an election free of violence.
"For the first time in 70 years, the people of West Bengal witnessed a truly impartial election. It was an election devoid of bloodshed, with no pre-poll or post-poll violence. The public, in a sense, has dismissed the TMC. It has ceased to function as a political party; it effectively no longer exists," Bhattacharya added.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari launched a scathing attack on the opposition INDIA bloc, accusing its constituents of uniting solely to evade corruption probes, protect family-centric political dynasties, and engage in appeasement politics.
Addressing a massive crowd during the BJP’s 'Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao' padyatra in Kolkata, led alongside BJP National President Nitin Nabin and State BJP Chief Samik Bhattacharya, Adhikari defended the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as a vital step to weed out illegal immigrants.
Adhikari criticised the coalition opposing the Election Commission's voter roll revision, framing their protests as an attempt to protect vote banks and foster disorder.
"Those who have united yesterday on three primary policies: one is protection from going to jail for corruption, to keep families afloat, and appeasement and Jamaat politics. Let me tell them clearly: in 2026, the Bharatiya Janata Party was elected in Bengal with over 2 crore 92 lakh votes. And SIR means—drive out infiltrators, save India. Today, they want to create anarchy here. Dimagi Naxals, Jihadis, terrorists, family-first politicians, corrupt leaders- we have to uproot all of them. Under the leadership of Nitin Nabin and under Narendra Modi's guidance, we must accomplish this."
Reiterating the core message of the statewide march, Adhikari chanted the party’s key slogan targeting illegal presence in electoral registries: "SIR means 'Ghuspetiya Bhagao, Bharat Bachao'. So today, they are trying to create anarchy. Dimagi Naxals, jihadis, Maoists, Jamaatists, dynasts, and corrupt people—we will root all of them out. Under the leadership of Nitin Nabin ji and Modi ji, we will do this."
The mega padyatra in Kolkata—sweeping from College Street to Dharmatala—was organised as a direct counter-mobilisation against the opposition INDIA bloc's protests at Ramlila Maidan over the Election Commission's SIR voter roll revision. With senior leadership, national flags, and massive worker participation, the BJP used the march to consolidate its political momentum in West Bengal following recent electoral mandates. (ANI)
"People not unhappy with SIR, Oppn criticising for sake of speaking": Bengal BJP Chief
