Cong backs Mamata’s ‘stolen mandate’ claim, demands repolling on 100 seats

A day after Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and outgoing West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said she would not resign, alleging that the mandate in at least 100 Assembly seats had been “stolen”, the Congress has extended support to its long-time rival.

Despite contesting the recent West Bengal Assembly elections separately, the Congress has backed Banerjee’s claims and demanded repolling in nearly 100 constituencies where the number of deleted votes under the state's controversial special intensive revision (SIR) reportedly exceeds the victory margin.

Describing the situation as a “large-scale theft of mandate” through the “manipulation of electoral rolls”, Congress media and publicity department chief Pawan Khera termed it “institutionalised electoral predation” at a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, 6 May.

Addressing a press meet for the first time after securing anticipatory bail from the Supreme Court in a defamation case filed by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife, Khera said the INDIA bloc stands “unequivocally” with Banerjee.

“The INDIA alliance stands with Mamata Banerjee in this decisive moment of democratic crisis. Her resolve to strengthen the bloc reflects a wider national imperative — the defence of constitutional democracy against systematic sabotage,” Khera said.

He further alleged that “Assam and West Bengal are no longer witnessing flawed elections, but a captured democratic process”. Citing figures from the SIR in West Bengal, Khera claimed that around 91 lakh voters were deleted from the rolls, while 27 lakh citizens were denied the opportunity to be heard before any tribunal.

The Congress leader also invoked past elections to argue that such practices are part of a broader pattern. “This is not an isolated aberration. It is a well-established and repeatable Bharatiya Janata Party playbook, deployed in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, and most brazenly during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” he said, alleging systematic voter manipulation and institutional capture.

“Statistically and structurally, roughly every sixth BJP member of Parliament out of 240 is the product of compromised electoral processes. It is engineered representation sustained through manipulation,” Khera added, repeating a claim made by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, 5 May.

Pointing to rising tensions in West Bengal, Khera alleged that violence and intimidation had already begun. “BJP elements are burning Opposition offices, assaulting candidates and workers, forcing shops to shut, and using loud DJ systems to play obscene songs as intimidation. There are also serious reports of threats, including of sexual violence, along with widespread beatings,” he claimed.

Responding to allegations that the Congress is becoming a “new Muslim League”, Khera said: “The BJP claims it does not need Muslim voters. The BJP has rejected Muslim voters, and Muslim voters, in turn, have rejected the BJP. In such a situation, when Muslims vote for a secular party, the BJP begins to complain about that as well. This suggests that the BJP is now attempting to assign colours to votes. The question is — does B.R. Ambedkar’s Constitution permit such thinking?”

In Assam, 17 out of 18 Congress MLAs are from the Muslim community, while in West Bengal, two Congress MLAs who won are also Muslims.

“While the Congress party has always ensured representation for all sections of society, the BJP has consistently targeted one community with divisive rhetoric,” he said. “The truth is that the BJP seeks to weaken every section of society — including Dalits, backward classes, tribals, and women.”

Earlier, the Congress said it has 664 MLAs across the country, of whom 520 (78 per cent) are Hindus, 80 (12 per cent) are Muslims, and 64 (10 per cent) belong to other religious communities.