Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) launched a blistering counterattack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, questioning if he was branding over 1 crore people in West Bengal — impacted by the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls — as “infiltrators” (ghuspaithiya).
The sharp retort came hours after PM Modi, in his Rajya Sabha reply to the Motion of Thanks in the President’s Address on February 5, accused the TMC of pressuring the courts to shield “infiltrators.” He remarked that even the world’s most prosperous nations are deporting illegal immigrants, yet in India, efforts are being made to protect them, adding that such actions harm the nation’s youth by snatching jobs and opportunities.
TMC hit back fiercely, linking Modi’s words to the SIR exercise, which has allegedly caused widespread harassment and voter list deletions affecting elderly citizens, women, migrant workers, daily wagers, and patients — totalling over 1.4 crore individuals.
The party highlighted the plight of 150 families who lost loved ones amid the “cruel process” and defended West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Supreme Court appearance as a fight for genuine voters’ rights, not infiltrators.
“Is the Prime Minister audaciously calling these affected people ‘infiltrators’?” The TMC made this statement while urging Bengal voters to remember Modi’s remarks ahead of the assembly polls. The exchange has intensified the political heat in West Bengal, where infiltration and voter rights remain explosive issues amid the BJP-TMC rivalry.