December 15, 2025
Mamata Thakur’s speech on Election Reforms
“Sir, I thank you for allowing me to speak. My party is the Trinamool Congress, my leader is Ms.Mamata Banerjee. As a result of the voter list renewal, the most affected are the crores of rootless refugee Bengalis who came from East Pakistan or Bangladesh. Lakhs of Matua Hindus who came from Bengal across the border are spending their days in anxiety in India today. The Election Commission states that under Article 326 of the Constitution…The Election Commission states that the voter list is being renewed as per Article 326 of the Constitution. That implies the time when the country’s first voter list was published in 1952. Again, the Election Commission says that those whose names are in the 2002 voter list, their names will not be removed during the voter list renewal. People are confused; which one is correct? Sir, the Matuas and Hindus who voted to form the Government from 2002 to 2024, today it is being said about those Matua votes that after the year 2000, their names will no longer remain on the voter list. So, after all this time, after coming from Bengal across the border all this while ago, they got their names on the voter list with much difficulty. So why from 2002 to 2024! If their votes are not valid, then, the Government is not valid either! In 2012, the Foreigners Act was implemented in India. No overnment in the country publicized this correctly. Consequently, in the last 70-75 years, countless people from Bengal across the border entered India. So for this situation, why should only the Bengalis, the sons of the soil of undivided India, be the victims? For the last 70 years, the Government gave those people all opportunities of civil rights. Whatever the law may be, can such a terrible event be caused on humanitarian grounds? Especially, these endangered people were not at fault for the partition of Bengal overnight. The Government of India, instead of protecting these helpless Bengali Hindus, has continuously put them in further danger… 12 crore people, Bengalis, will give an answer to this in the ballot box in the coming days. Sir, I want to tell you that the 11 documents, the 11 documents they are asking for, the Matuas don’t have those 11 documents, no Hindu has them. Sir, I will request you, taking Matua votes and I will say, Sir, that the Aadhaar Card should be included within those 11 documents. Thank you, Sir.”
