KOLKATA/KHANDAGHOSH: Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee warned of “operations” starting Sunday night to arrest Trinamool workers ahead of assembly polls less than a fortnight away, urging them to be careful under an administration now under the EC. Mamata vowed to resist BJP’s attempt “to break Bengal through delimitation” that is slated to start following the Census this year. BJP, she said, is trying to “harass and intimidate” Bengal’s voters, including her, because it “knows it will lose the elections”. “Many will be detained and arrested before the polls (as part of an election strategy). These operations will start (Sunday) tonight. Do not be intimidated… Remember, everything is under EC during this election – nothing is in our hands. Be vigilant for another 15-21 days; then we will see, we will fight, and we will win again… They (BJP) know they will lose the election. That is why they have changed everything here,” the CM said at a rally in East Burdwan’s Khandaghosh, alluding to a wave of transfers in the state administration. Flagging her opposition to a delimitation bill, which the Centre is likely to introduce in Lok Sabha this month, Mamata called it a design to “break Bengal into three parts”. “Then NRC will be implemented. People will be sent to detention camps. In Assam, out of 19 lakh people sent to detention camps, 13 lakh were Hindus and six lakh Muslims. We will never allow detention camps in Bengal,” the CM said. Mamata described SIR as “the biggest scam”. PM Narendra Modi, she said, was voted to office for a third term by people on the 2024 rolls. “Is everyone an infiltrator?” she asked, referring to those who voted in the last Lok Sabha elections but have been excluded after SIR.
