Serampore: Mamata Banerjee on Saturday stepped up the ante against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar — whom she has dubbed “Vanish Kumar” — at her first public meeting outside Kolkata after the Bengal assembly elections.“Vanish Kumar must go, what he has done is a criminal act,” Banerjee said at Serampore, adding that over 90 lakh people were deleted from voter rolls. “We did not lose the Bengal elections. The mandate was stolen from us. I appeared in Supreme Court and brought back 32 lakh people to the voter list,” she said.Banerjee’s rally came after she spoke to Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and CPM general secretary MA Baby ahead of the Sept 30 opposition meeting at Delhi’s Constitution Club. “If they could capture Bengal using SIR, we will capture Delhi,” she said.On building alliances with other opposition parties, she said, “There is no need to see who is red, who is blue, or who is yellow. The electoral process must be transparent. We will look at the issue — if it is in favour of the people, I have no need to look at which party it is.”On closing ranks with CPM, Banerjee said Baby had written to her proposing a joint sit-down. “I immediately said—yes, I agree with you. Let’s sit together and discuss.”Alleging the fight isn’t only about Kumar, Banerjee said without naming anyone: “The Narad-Narad duo is equally responsible.” She said questions must also be asked about the role of others, including Seema Khanna. “I have never seen this scale of propaganda and pressure. Thousands of cases have been filed, many manufactured against our people,” she added.Alleging SIR had driven a wedge between rich and poor, she said: “Those who are powerful may find a way to protect themselves, but what about poor people whose names have been removed? Are they not citizens of this country?”Attacking Bengal BJP govt, Banerjee said: “This so-called honeymoon trip to Bengal has become a trip of intimidation, vandalism and political interference. Why are people being prevented from leaving their homes? Why should permission for a political meeting depend on the wishes of those in office?”On Annapurna Yojana protests, she said: “Some benefits are being distributed where one person gets them and another does not. Lakshmir Bhandar was meant for everyone who qualified—not based on political identity.”Senior state minister Agnimitra Paul said: “The people of Bengal gave Mamata Banerjee 15 years. Over those 15 years, everything was destroyed—corruption, arrogance, no utilisation. Now they can hold protest rallies, but it won’t be of any benefit. The people of Bengal are highly educated. Once a decision is made, they never bring that party back.”
