West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday filed her nomination from the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in Kolkata and appealed to voters across the state to support her party in the upcoming elections.
Speaking to the media after filing her papers, CM Banerjee highlighted her long association with the constituency and expressed confidence about returning to power.
Mamata Banerjee files nomination, seeks statewide support
The Chief Minister said, "I stay here for 365 days. Bhabanipur has been the centre of my life. I have stayed here since my childhood. Thanking all the people of Bhabanipur, I have filed my nomination today. Along with that, I would want to appeal to all voters of Bengal to elect Trinamool Congress candidates across all 294 constituencies. We are going to form the government."
The Bhabanipur seat is considered politically significant, with Mamata Banerjee once again contesting from the constituency amid high political stakes in the state.
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Raises concern over voter list exclusions
Mamata Banerjee also raised concerns over the exclusion of names from electoral rolls, stating that a large number of voters may be unable to cast their votes.
She said, "I am speaking with grief because so many people have been excluded from the electoral rolls. 32 lakh names have been included out of the 1.2 crore individuals who had been excluded – that too, because I moved Supreme Court. 58 lakh names have not been judged. Some might get excluded, those who are duplicates or deceased. But the 27 lakh people put under adjudication should be given their right to suffrage."
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She further added, "There will be no use if their names are included later, after elections, as they will not be able to cast their votes. It was the Supreme Court's ruling that those under adjudication are genuine voters. The court had directed that the issues be resolved through the tribunal. But I cannot understand why the process has been 'frozen'. We will appeal to the judiciary again and seek justice."
Her remarks come amid ongoing political debate over voter list revisions ahead of the Assembly elections in West Bengal.
