Daijiworld Media Network - Digha

Digha, Jun 26: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday lashed out at the Election Commission of India (ECI) over its newly introduced voter roll revision guidelines, calling them a backdoor attempt to revive the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and accusing the Centre of using Bihar as a smokescreen to target Bengal.

Speaking from Digha, where she participated in the Ratha Yatra celebrations at the newly inaugurated Shree Jagannath Dham Cultural Centre, Banerjee expressed strong reservations about the EC’s new protocols, especially ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections.

“These guidelines may have been announced in the context of Bihar, but make no mistake—West Bengal is their true target. The BJP is using the ECI to implement its political agenda,” Banerjee said, claiming that migrant workers and marginalized communities would be disproportionately affected.

She particularly criticised new requirements that demand documentary proof of citizenship, including:

• Mandatory submission of birthplaces for those not on the 2003 voter list.
• Parental documents for those born after July 1, 1987.
• Place and date of birth details for those born before that cutoff.

Calling the rules “absurd and exclusionary,” Banerjee said, “Even I don't know my parents' exact birth dates. How can you expect ordinary citizens to furnish such documents after decades?”

She also faulted the EC for allegedly bypassing consultation with political parties before issuing the new directives. “India is a democracy. How can such sweeping changes be made without a national discussion?” she asked.

The Chief Minister reiterated her belief that the Centre is pushing the country towards another round of NRC-style documentation and vowed to resist any attempt to implement it in Bengal.

“This is not just administrative overreach—it’s a calculated political move. The people of Bengal will not accept it,” she declared.