"Want power on strength of infiltrators' votes": BJP's Kapil Mishra slams Mamata Banerjee's "ECI harassing citizens" claims

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 12 (ANI): Delhi Law Minister Kapil Mishra has criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's "ECI harassing citizens" and "attempt to disenfranchise eligible voters" claims amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive, saying that it was natural for them to feel irked since they desire to gain power on the votes of infiltrators.
He said that the treatment for such "poison and cancer" will be meted out.
"It's natural for them to have stomach aches because they want to come back to power on the strength of infiltrators' votes. A country can't elect its government with the help of infiltrators. This is like poison and cancer. The treatment for this cancer is certain and will be done," Mishra told ANI.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was in Mumbai campaigning for his party ahead of the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
Mishra said that Mahayuti will secure a landslide majority in the BMC polls, scheduled to be held on January 15.
"The BMC election is where a massive wave is running in favour of the BJP and the Mahayuti alliance. Certainly, the BJP and Mahayuti alliance is moving towards a landslide majority. Those who oppose nationalism, Mumbai, and development are having stomach aches," he added.
Earlier, West Bengal Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari wrote to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, calling Mamata Banerjee's claims an attempt to derail the SIR drive, which he said was a crucial process.
He also called the allegations levelled by Mamata Banerjee "baseless and exaggerated".
"I have written to the Chief Election Commissioner of India, Gyanesh Kumar, strongly countering the baseless, blown out of proportion and exaggerated allegations made by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her letter dated January 10, 2026, regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls," Adhikari posted on X.
Adhikari claimed that Banerjee's allegations were motivated by a desire to protect the party's electoral interests.
This followed Mamata Banerjee's concern about the treatment of ordinary citizens during the SIR exercise. She said the hearings had become largely mechanical, driven by technical data, and lacked the sensitivity, human touch, and application of mind essential for such a fundamental exercise in a democracy.
"Though I know you won't reply or clarify. But (it is) my duty to inform you (of) the details," Banerjee said in the letter.
"I am deeply shocked and disturbed by the manner in which the ECI appears to be relentlessly harassing ordinary citizens during the ongoing SIR. The hearing process has become largely mechanical, driven purely by technical data and is completely devoid of the application of mind, sensitivity and human touch that are indispensable for an exercise of this nature, one that directly forms the bedrock of our democracy and constitutional framework," the letter read.
She noted that backend changes to case-disposal options were causing confusion among officials and warned that such issues could amount to a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise eligible voters.
"The so-called logical discrepancy numbers are increasing by the day. It has been reported that the portal being used for West Bengal is apparently different from that used in other States. Further, the options initially provided for the disposal of such cases are being altered from the backend in an erratic manner, causing serious confusion among the official machinery engaged in this work. This amounts to a deliberate and clandestine attempt to disenfranchise eligible voters of the State," said the letter. (ANI)