West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday criticised the INDIA bloc over its rally in Delhi on November 1. He alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his predecessor Mamata Banerjee had joined hands to protect illegal infiltrators. Adhikari was speaking to reporters at Bagdogra airport in Siliguri, according to a PTI report carried by Outlook India.
Key points
- Adhikari said Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi were fighting together to keep infiltrators in India.
- The INDIA bloc held the rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on November 1 over alleged electoral irregularities.
- Adhikari praised the Election Commission for the violence-free 2026 assembly elections in Bengal.
- He said a large rally would be held in Siliguri, with at least 25,000 people expected.
What the chief minister said
Adhikari said the Centre and the Election Commission (EC) had taken up the task of driving illegal immigrants out of the country. In his view, Banerjee and Gandhi were working together to keep them here. He also said Banerjee had taken part in the Ramlila Maidan rally even though nobody invited her to inaugurate a single Durga Puja in West Bengal.
Referring to the national goal of "Viksit Bharat" by 2047, he said protests were being held in Delhi by people he called "Dimagi Naxals", radical extremists, communists and those who never win elections. He also mocked Banerjee's remarks on alleged vote theft.
Banerjee's remarks at the rally
At the Delhi rally, Banerjee, the former Bengal chief minister, reworked a popular nursery rhyme into a song against the Election Commission. She said, "Vote chori, yes papa; loktantra chori, yes papa; loot kiya BJP papa; who is behind the curtain, BJP papa." Adhikari answered with a similar mocking rhyme about infiltrators, saying they could come to India and stay "like a son-in-law".
Comments on the Bengal elections
Adhikari praised the Election Commission for holding peaceful assembly elections in the state earlier this year. He asked reporters to compare the figures for elections held under the CPI(M) and the TMC with those conducted under the EC's supervision. According to him, the 2026 elections saw no deaths and no injuries for the first time.
He said there were nearly one lakh polling stations and that the TMC did not demand a repoll at any of them. In earlier elections, he said, reports of deaths had become routine.
Programmes in Siliguri
Adhikari was due to attend a BJP programme and a state government event in Siliguri. He said rallies were being held at around 134 places that day to protect democracy. In Siliguri, he said, at least 25,000 people would take part. He added that democracy was alive in the country because of good governance under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The statements are political claims made by the chief minister. The report does not carry a response from Banerjee or the Congress to his remarks.
