'You Have Kitchen Tools’: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Instigates Women Against SIR

Krishnanagar: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday made a provocative remark targeting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in the state, urging women to be prepared with “kitchen tools” if their names are deleted during the review, NDTV reported.

“You will snatch the rights of mothers and sisters in the name of SIR? They will bring police from Delhi during the election and intimidate mothers and sisters. Mothers and sisters, if your names are struck off, you have the tools, don’t you? The tools you use for cooking. You have strength, don’t you? You won’t let it pass if your names are removed, will you? The women will fight at the front, and the men will stand behind them,” Banerjee said. The statement was made at a rally in Krishnangar.

She also said she wanted to see who was more powerful, the women of the state or the BJP. “I don’t believe in communalism. I believe in secularism. Whenever an election approaches, the BJP tries to use money and bring people from other states to divide the public,” she added.

Banerjee said that the people of Bengal, who struggled for independence and sacrificed their lives for the country, must prove that they are citizens of India.

“If you attack us, we know how to retaliate. We know how to stop injustice,” she said. She alleged that the BJP planned to hold elections based on lists prepared by its IT cell. “Remember, Bihar could not, but Bengal will, no matter what you do,” she added.