KOLKATA: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Nabanna secretariat on Tuesday, praising her resistance to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and alleging misuse of the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
At a joint press conference after their hour-long meeting, Yadav reaffirmed his party’s full support for Banerjee. “If anyone in the country is taking on the BJP, it is Mamata Banerjee,” he said. “Only through this fight can the BJP be challenged.”
He criticised the Election Commission and the ruling party, accusing them of using the SIR to target Opposition voters. “For the first time, the EC and BJP, under the guise of SIR, are conducting an NRC and harassing ordinary citizens,” Yadav claimed, suggesting the exercise aimed to delete voters rather than encourage participation.
He alleged that West Bengal was being specifically targeted. “The SIR they have brought is only for West Bengal,” he said, accusing the Election Commission of abandoning its constitutional neutrality. “We expected a constitutional body like the EC to remain impartial. But
our experiences in Bengal, Bihar and UP show this is just a way to reduce votes for BJP’s opponents.”
Yadav praised Banerjee as the only national leader challenging the BJP’s “onslaught”. “Only ‘Didi’ can counter the BJP in this country,” he said, pledging SP support for her “fight to save democracy” and expressing confidence in her re-election. “The people of Bengal have a deep emotional bond with their Chief Minister, and she will become Chief Minister again.”
He also referred to recent Enforcement Directorate raids linked to political consultants in I-PAC. “Didi has defeated the ED, we are sure she will now defeat the BJP again,” he said, praising her confrontational stance toward the probe agency.
Drawing on cultural pride, Yadav added: “Bengal is a cultural unit, not just a political one. People here listen to Rabindra Sangeet, not songs of hatred. Those who try to divide will not succeed; those who spread sweetness will win.”
Banerjee welcomed his support, saying: “He is doing very good work. My best wishes are with him.”
The meeting comes amid growing Opposition criticism of the SIR exercise in poll-bound States. Yadav cited Uttar Pradesh’s red revision, during which nearly 2.89 crore voters were reportedly removed from draft electoral rolls, as evidence of a wider pattern. Yadav, who visited the Kalighat temple before the meeting, was in Kolkata for a family function with his wife and Lohi Sabha MP Dimple Yadav.
The State BJP dismissed the meeting, Chief Whip Shankar Ghosh said: “It is a pointless exercise. Akhilesh Yadav has lost in Uttar Pradesh. It is only a matter of time before Mamata Banerjee too loses.”
