TMC slams BJP, ECI for targeting Bengali-speaking migrants; battle over identity, citizenship heats up ahead of Bengal polls 2026.
KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has come out guns blazing against the Election Commission of India and the Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing them of targeting Bengali-speaking migrants in the run-up to the Assembly elections in West Bengal next year. Voters from Bengal who work as migrant labour in other states and their families form a significant vote base for the TMC. The number of migrant labour from West Bengal is estimated to be as high as 40 lakh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had cited this figure in a 2019 electoral meeting, attributing it to lack of local job opportunities. Social activists and organizations say the true number might exceed official records because of underreporting. Even as the Election Commission of India (ECI) is preparing to launch and initiate a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal sometime in August, TMC sources say that the aim is to “disenfranchise these poor and marginalised people who have always supported their party.” “Bengali-speaking migrant workers are being harassed, detained, & labelled ‘illegal’, even after submitting valid citizenship documents. Despite Smt. @ MamataOfficial’s letter to the Centre demanding immediate intervention, this xenophobic targeting continues with full impunity. We will not stay silent. We will fight this hate-driven persecution with full force,” posted on X.
“These are people who build your cities. Instead of giving them dignity, the BJP is weaponising police and agencies to drive them out like criminals. This is a war on the working class and on Bengalis,” a senior TMC leader told The Sunday Guardian. TMC leader and Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra moved the Supreme Court challenging the order of the Election Commission of India for Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. “ECI has introduced it to deprive the bona fide young electorate of Bihar. Later, they will target Bengal,” Moitra said. She claimed that the process violates constitutional provisions and the Representation of People’s Act and sought a direction to restrain ECI from issuing similar orders in other states of the country.
The TMC is also protesting the crackdown on Bengalispeaking migrants in New Delhi and Odisha in particular where more than 400 people were detained on suspicion of being Bangladeshi or Rohingya. This has set off a slug-fest between the TMC and the Bharatiya Janata Party. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had, on Wednesday, condemned what she called the “forced eviction” and “systematic harassment” of Bengalispeaking residents from Delhi’s Jai Hind Colony and Vasant Kunj. In a Facebook post, Banerjee said she was “deeply disturbed” by reports that the water supply was cut off, electricity meters seized, and private water tankers blocked by the Delhi Police and RAF, leaving hundreds of poor migrants without basic facilities.
Amit Malviya, the BJP’s IT cell head and co-minder for West Bengal, alleged that the TMC was aiding “demographic infiltration and compromising national security by facilitating fake documents for Bangladeshi migrants”. “444 suspected illegal migrants detained in Odisha. Loudmouth TMC MP Mahua Moitra jumped in, claiming ‘innocent Bengalis’ were being harassed. But guess what? 335 out of 444 had fake documents, issued by none other than the TMC Government in West Bengal. “TMC is flooding India with Bangladeshi infiltrators, who work in other states but return to Bengal just to vote for Mamata Banerjee.
Every state must be extremely cautious while hiring labour or employees carrying fake Bengal-issued documents. This is not just a demographic threat, it’s a national security concern,” Malviya wrote on X. TMC MP and West Bengal Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board chairman Samirul Islam launched a stinging counterattack on Malviya, branding him the “falsehood master”.
The TMC MP demanded proof for Malviya’s claims that 335 out of 444 detained migrants in Odisha possessed fake documents allegedly issued by the West Bengal government. Islam questioned why the BJPruled Odisha government released most detainees if they were indeed Bangladeshis. He demanded proof that the detainees were foreigners and asked whether such documents were ever placed before a court or whether any deportation had legally taken place. “Even the BSF admitted that it was their fault to deport seven innocent Bengalis illegally,” he said, alleging that rejecting identity documents issued in Bengal reveals an “anti-Bengali” bias within the BJP.
Islam further alleged that Malviya did not even understand that Aadhaar and voter identity cards were documents issued by the Central government, not by the state. “You are asking other states to reject documents issued by Bengal. This clearly shows how anti-Bengali and prejudiced you are. Is Aadhaar or EPIC (voter ID) issued by state governments? The most uncouth leader should at least know which documents are issued by your bosses in Delhi,” the TMC MP claimed. Detaining and targeting poor Bengali-speaking workers was “not just unconstitutional but a crime”, he said. “We have no problem if actions are taken against those infiltrators, if any. Now you should ask @AmitShah how BSF allowed them to cross the border. However, hounding, detaining and putting Bengali-speaking poor people from West Bengal in detention centres is illegal, unconstitutional, and a crime,” Islam said. He further said: “Our battle for rights of Bengalispeaking migrant workers under leadership @MamataOfficial will continue until the atrocities on them come to an end.”
The West Bengal BJP, however, blamed the Mamata Banerjee-led state government for the confusion over identity documentation. “The lines between real citizens and those using forged documents have become increasingly blurred,” senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha said. “With the help of Trinamool leaders, thousands of infiltrators from Bangladesh have managed to create fake papers identifying them as Bengal residents and are now roaming across the country as Indians,” he added.
With the TMC vowing to continue its agitation and legal fight, and the BJP hardening its stance on what it calls “illegal immigration under political patronage”, the issue is fast becoming a volatile flashpoint in the run-up to the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.
