NEW DELHI: Former Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee took a swipe at chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar through a parody of the popular children’s rhyme ‘Johny Johny Yes Papa’ at a rally in Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Sunday.Leading the crowd in a series of call-and-response slogans, Mamata accused the BJP of stealing votes, undermining democracy and denying people’s rights. She also mocked the CEC by calling him ‘Vanish Kumar’, alleging that more than one crore votes had been removed in West Bengal during the election process.In an apparent reference to the alleged manipulation of votes and election results, Mamata adapted the familiar rhyme to target the BJP and the chief election commissioner. She asked the crowd a series of questions, with the audience responding in the style of the nursery rhyme.“Vanish vanish? Yes, Papa!Vote theft? Yes, Papa!Democracy theft? Yes, Papa!Who looted? BJP Papa!And who is behind the robbery? BJP Papa!Job theft? BJP Papa!Dignity theft? BJP Papa!Farmer’s respect theft? BJP Papa!Destroying laborers’ homes? BJP Papa!Do we want BJP? No, Papa!Do we want ‘Vanish Kumar’? No, Papa!”The TMC leader also directly targeted Gyanesh Kumar, using the nickname ‘Vanish Kumar’ to accuse him of making votes disappear. She alleged that the Election Commission had not only removed votes but also undermined the counting process in the state.“Now central… ‘Vanish Kumar’ Ji (referring mockingly to an official), you didn’t just make votes vanish, you made the entire counting process vanish! By centrally hijacking, you removed more than 1 crore votes in our Bengal! Before the votes… we didn’t lose, we were made to lose! We will take revenge for this through politics, we will fight through democracy, we will fight!”Mamata also accused the BJP of using the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise to benefit itself. Taking a dig at the name of the exercise, she offered her own interpretation of the acronym and alleged that it was being used to provide political relief to the ruling party.“What does SIR mean? Special Incentives… meaning Special Incentive Relief to a political party like the BJP! What haven’t they been given? Now EVMs were looted! Democracy was looted! The Constitution was looted! Rights were looted! Now our election counting was looted!”Calling West Bengal a victim of the circumstances surrounding the SIR exercise, Mamata said her party would continue to resist what she described as an attempt to undermine the state’s electoral rights.“I want to say… Bengal is the victim of the circumstances of this SIR. We will not back down! We will give our lives, we will fight! We will not back down, our Bengal was looted! From Delhi… we will not loot, we will save democracy, we will bring democracy back.”She went on to accuse the BJP of looting institutions, places of worship and public resources. Referring to alleged incidents involving temples, mosques and gurdwaras, she questioned whether such actions could continue unchecked.“What hasn’t been looted? Temples were looted! Ram Janmabhoomi’s money was looted! In our Bengal, temple money was looted, temple money was looted! Gurudwaras… they enter Gurudwaras wearing boots! We have never heard of such a thing! Mosques were looted, Waqf property was looted, the Treasury was looted! What wasn’t looted? Dignity was looted, democracy was looted, the Constitution was looted! Will things keep going on like this?”Mamata also alleged that the BJP was using police personnel and central agencies for political purposes. Appealing to police officers not to become involved in party activities, she said:“Using the police, you make them do party work, political organization work! Police became their comrade… BJP comrade! The BJP has no other organization! That is why I want to say, police personnel are like our brothers and sisters… Agencies, don’t work with BJP!”Taking another swipe at the BJP’s slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’, she contrasted it with what she described as the consequences of the party’s rule.“You used to say—’Development for all’, ‘Together with all, development for all’! And now people say—’Together with BJP, destruction for all’!”Earlier in her address, Mamata expressed solidarity with the CJP leadership, Gen Z, students and young people, while acknowledging the presence of opposition leaders, lawyers and civil society groups at the rally. She named several opposition leaders and lawyers who had attended the gathering and praised their efforts.“…actually, the Leftist party, all are present here, from Mehbooba Mufti to everybody, and the NGOs, and the social team, who are civil society. They are really trying their best. I am congratulating [and extending] my solidarity to CZP leadership and Gen Z, all the students, and the young generation for their solidarity, for their support, for their fighting.”
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She also briefly commented on her Hindi-speaking abilities, saying she would keep her address short to allow other leaders to speak.“Just now you heard Akhilesh Ji… those people can speak good Hindi, I cannot. But whatever broken Hindi I can manage to speak… Tejashwi also spoke very well, and Rahul is also going to speak. I will speak very briefly, because others should also be given a chance to speak, right?”