Kolkata, March 6 -- Mamata Banerjee on Friday began a sit-in protest at Dharmatala, two days ahead of the arrival of the full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The protest, currently scheduled to run daily from 10 am to 8 pm, is aimed at opposing the voter revision process ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections and in such a "hasty and unplanned way".

Targeting the BJP and ECI, Banerjee said: "I will expose the BJP-EC conspiracy to disenfranchise Bengali voters," and asserted that the "BJP would be under 50 seats this time."

Several Trinamool Congress leaders, including party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, along

with eminent Bengali artistes and writers, addressed the gathering on Friday. Mamata Banerjee, however, is scheduled to deliver her speech on

Saturday after spending the night at the protest site.

Recalling Banerjee's historic protest for voter identity

cards in 1993, Abhishek Banerjee said: "She was the only leader who fought for the rights of voters in 1993. In 2026, once again in the fight to protect democratic rights, she will win." He also alleged that the Election Commission was functioning as a "B team of the BJP" and attempting to defeat the ma-mati-manush. "We have fought this conspiracy on the ground, in Parliament and even in court, and the BJP will not be allowed to gain any advantage in the polls," he said.

Urging voters to socially boycott the BJP, Abhishek claimed that several voters were being harassed due to the "hasty and unplanned" revision process and alleged that around 172 people had died amid the anxiety surrounding it. "Before the 2021 Assembly elections, there was a call of 'No vote to BJP'. This time the call should be 'boycott BJP'," he said, adding that even a small number of BJP MLAs could attempt to "undermine the Constitution."

Alleging large-scale irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Abhishek Banerjee said the exercise appeared aimed at achieving a "pre-fixed political target". According to him, the final list shows that 63.66 lakh names have been deleted, while over 60 lakh voters have been kept "under adjudication", leaving uncertainty over their participation in the upcoming Assembly elections. He further alleged that senior BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, had earlier indicated that around 1.2 crore names would be removed from Bengal's voter rolls.

Targeting the Union government, Abhishek Banerjee said the Centre had attempted to withhold Bengal's rightful funds while the state government continued welfare initiatives such as payments under the 100 days' work scheme, housing assistance and the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme from its own resources. He also questioned why the term "logical discrepancy" had not been used in BJP-ruled states. "Why is it being imposed only in Bengal? In reality, this is being done to snatch away Bengal's voting rights," he said.

Meanwhile, the TMC national general secretary also wrote to the Election Commission on the same day, raising concerns over the publication of the final and supplementary electoral rolls and alleging a lack of transparency in the process. In the letter, the party demanded formal notification that voters included through supplementary rolls would be treated as part of the final roll, daily publication of supplementary rolls as directed by the Supreme Court of India, and public disclosure of adjudication decisions in a transparent manner.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.