Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, took a sharp swipe at All India Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, dismissing their trip to New Delhi for the INDIA bloc meeting as politically inconsequential. Speaking from Kolkata, Ghosh declared that no meaningful outcome would emerge from the gathering.

What Ghosh Said

Addressing reporters, Ghosh was blunt in his assessment. 'For the media, the news is only that they are going to Delhi and coming back from Delhi. What is the result? Nothing is going to happen,' he said.

He also pushed back against the opposition's criticism of the Election Commission of India (ECI), arguing that the same body had overseen electoral victories for the Indian National Congress during its decade in power at the Centre. 'Congress ruled for 10 years in between; this same Election Commission made them win. In various states where Congress is in power, they won elections and came to power. So, how did they win there? The Election Commission remains the same. Therefore, a streak of losses has begun. The party president himself has lost, so how will the party win?' Ghosh said.

Why the INDIA Bloc Is Meeting

The INDIA bloc convened on Wednesday at the Constitution Club in New Delhi to chart a coordinated political response to the controversy surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Opposition parties have raised concerns about the functioning of the Election Commission, including the process of voter-name verification and deletion.

The agenda was finalised after internal consultations within the alliance. The meeting is expected to focus specifically on the SIR exercise and how the bloc should respond as a unified front. Notably, the Congress Working Committee had earlier passed a formal resolution demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar — a demand that is expected to feature prominently in discussions.

Ghosh Defends the SIR Process

Ghosh also came to the defence of the electoral roll revision exercise, targeting those who have raised objections over the deletion of voter names. 'The false voters here have been separated through the SIR process, those who are not citizens of the country or do not have documents. So, crying over them is of no use…' he said.

This comes amid a broader national debate over the integrity of voter rolls, with opposition parties alleging that legitimate voters — particularly from marginalised communities — risk being disenfranchised through the revision exercise. The BJP has consistently argued that the process is aimed at cleansing rolls of ineligible entries.

Political Context

The verbal sparring between Ghosh and the Trinamool Congress leadership reflects the deeply adversarial relationship between the BJP and TMC in West Bengal. Despite both parties taking opposing positions nationally on the Election Commission controversy, the INDIA bloc itself remains a fragile coalition — with Mamata Banerjee having at times kept a distance from the alliance's central command.

How the bloc navigates its internal tensions while presenting a united front on electoral roll concerns will be closely watched as the meeting's outcomes become clear.