Mamata Claims 'Unofficial' President’s Rule in Bengal, NRC Plot Allegations
Mamata Claims 'Unofficial' President’s Rule in Bengal, NRC Plot Allegations
Mamata Banerjee says the Centre intends to impose unofficial rule, expand NRC fears, and carve out a separate state in North Bengal ahead of West Bengal polls.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged that an unofficial and self-declared President's rule has begun in the state. She asserted that the Centre would have to conduct elections under President's rule and accused New Delhi of plotting to erase the people’s citizenship through NRC and Census after the polls. Speaking at the release of her party’s election manifesto, Banerjee warned that the Centre was effectively aiming to dissolve West Bengal by carving out parts of North Bengal and Bihar to form a separate state, a move she described as an attempt to erase Bengal.
Banerjee pointed to a series of administrative changes, noting that about 50 senior officers — including the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, DGP and around a dozen district magistrates and superintendents of police — had been transferred by the Election Commission since the Model Code of Conduct came into force. She argued that officers from other states, unfamiliar with Bengal's language, culture, and geography, would not be able to conduct free and fair elections, reinforcing her claim of an unofficial rule.
She warned about the adjudication of electors, saying she had heard that around 60 lakh electors would be affected; she claimed only 22 lakh cases had been adjudicated so far, with about 10 lakh names already deleted. The Trinamool Congress has said the exercise targeted a particular community, and Banerjee said she had knocked on every door to express concerns.
As the state gears up for elections, Banerjee's remarks add to a heated political narrative about Centre-state control and the fairness of the electoral process, with the TMC insisting that the central move is a pretext to capture Bengal's politics.
