"In name of women empowerment, BJP pushing dangerous delimitation exercise": TMC

Kolkata: Political tensions in West Bengal are heating up ahead of the Assembly elections, as Trinamool Congress (TMC) slammed BJP over the Delimitation Bill on Friday, labelling it a "dangerous" exercise hidden behind the veil of women's empowerment to weaken Bengal's parliamentary representation.

In a post on X, the West Bengal ruling party reiterated that TMC supports women's quota but not as it is proposed now.

"In the name of "women empowerment," @BJP4India is stealthily pushing a dangerous delimitation exercise. Their real agenda is to increase parliamentary seats for BJP-ruled states while punishing and weakening Bengal's representation. We have always strongly supported women's political reservation and greater representation. But what BJP is doing now is not empowerment. It is a calculated political conspiracy to reduce Bengal's voice in Parliament," the party said in the post.Also Read: I-T dept raids premises linked to TMC candidate, proposer of Mamata Banerjee's nomination ahead of Bengal polls


Asserting that "bullets cannot win here" and the people would deliver a "crushing answer" through the ballot box, it called on the BJP to stop what they called "dirty games" and focus on fielding more women candidates if they were genuine.

"If they are genuinely serious about women's participation, they should stop these dirty games and instead focus on fielding more women candidates and actually helping them win," the TMC further said.

It accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Assam CM of conspiring to "flood Bengal with outsiders" and weaponising the NRC to target communities like the Rajbanshis with the electoral SIR process.

"With the active help of Central Forces, @BJP4India and @himantabiswa are conspiring to flood Bengal with outsiders from Assam to rig the voter list and change our demography. They ran the NRC in Assam. Now they are weaponising the same NRC by sending notices to the Rajbanshi community. The game plan is clear: Create fear and exclusion, rig the voter rolls, steal the election through manipulated ballots," alleged TMC in an X post. Also Read: TMC, BJP trade barbs on campaign trail during Poila Boishakh

Amidst these high-decibel allegations, West Bengal's political realm prepares for its two-phase assembly polls on April 23 and 29, with counting of votes on May 4.

The state is set to witness a high-voltage contest between the incumbent Trinamool Congress, which is seeking a fourth consecutive term, and the BJP, which is aiming to form the government after a strong showing in the previous elections.