Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday led a massive protest march in central Kolkata, warning that she would “bring down the BJP government at the Centre” if even a single eligible voter’s name was deleted from Bengal’s electoral rolls.

Her rally coincided with the launch of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists across the state — a move she has repeatedly denounced as a “backdoor NRC”.

Accompanied by Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, the CM walked nearly four kilometres from BR Ambedkar’s statue on Red Road to Jorasanko Thakurbari, holding a copy of the Constitution and surrounded by thousands of party workers.

Addressing supporters near Rabindranath Tagore’s ancestral home, Mamata accused the Election Commission of targeting opposition-ruled states.

“The BJP is conducting SIR in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Bengal, but not in BJP-ruled Assam or Tripura. This is clear discrimination — a ploy to help the ruling party at the Centre,” she alleged.

In a sharp attack on the poll panel, Mamata questioned the urgency of completing the revision within a month. “In 2002, Bengal’s last SIR took two years. Why this abnormal rush now? Only to please Modi babu and Amit Shah?” she said, referring to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as “kursi babu” and recalling his earlier association with the Union home ministry.

The CM also aimed at the BJP’s claims about identifying “illegal voters”, saying the ruling party was spreading fear and misinformation.

“They say all Bangladeshis and Rohingyas will be removed. Then show us the numbers removed in Bihar — how many exist on this planet?” she quipped, drawing cheers from the crowd.

Over the past four months, Banerjee has intensified her campaign against the SIR, claiming it is an attempt to disenfranchise the poor, minorities, and marginalised communities.

She reiterated that her party was not against the revision process itself but opposed its timing and intent. “Must we all prove our citizenship decades after Independence?” she asked.

Citing instances of voters’ names being removed under “mapping errors”, Mamata accused the BJP of manipulating electoral rolls to engineer political gains. “They win through deals and manipulation, never through the genuine mandate of the people,” she said.

Taking a swipe at Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Mamata dismissed his claim that the Trinamool could lose if names were deleted through SIR. “If you dream of winning 294 seats by cutting two or three percent votes, you live in a fool’s paradise. Your own voters will now vote for us,” she declared.

The Trinamool chief ended her fiery speech by asserting that she would support a “transparent” SIR process — but only after the Lok Sabha elections.