New Delhi, Dec 31 (IANS) The political heat escalated on Wednesday as Bihar Minister Dilip Jaiswal launched a scathing attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her opposition to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying that she has lost her mind.

Responding to Banerjee’s threat to gherao the Election Commission (EC) office in Delhi, Jaiswal said, “Mamata Banerjee has lost her mind. The people of Bengal will never accept the way she has supported illegal immigrants and tried to protect them.”

Jaiswal further condemned the TMC government’s stance on alleged illegal immigration, reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments. He asserted, “The people and voters of this country will never accept illegal infiltration and the division of the nation’s resources. Individuals from Bangladesh and other countries are entering India and encroaching on our rights.”

His remarks highlighted the BJP’s criticism that Mamata Banerjee was encouraging illegal migrants in the state.

The confrontation follows Mamata Banerjee’s strong statements in Bankura district, where she vowed to gherao the EC office in Delhi if even a single legitimate voter is deleted from the final electoral rolls after SIR.

Targeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, she called the SIR a massive “scam” allegedly being carried out using artificial intelligence. “SIR is being conducted using AI, it’s a huge scam,” Banerjee said.

She also alleged that the poor were being “tortured” by the process. “Around 60 people have died due to SIR. Elderly people are being called for document verification hearings,” she said, warning that the TMC would take action if voter names were wrongly removed: “If even a single legitimate voter’s name is deleted, the TMC will gherao the office of the Election Commission in Delhi.”

Responding to Shah’s accusation that West Bengal has become a hub for terrorists under the TMC, Banerjee fired back: “If there are no terrorists in J&K, how did Pahalgam happen? Did you carry out the attack in Pahalgam? Who was behind the incident that happened in Delhi?”

–IANS

rs/skp