Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday backed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for victory in the 2026 Assembly elections, stating that the BJP's "conspiracy" would not work.

Speaking to reporters in Lucknow, Akhilesh Yadav claimed that the BJP will lose the West Bengal polls in 2026 and the Uttar Pradesh polls in 2027.

He said, "In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee is going to win by a large margin of votes. These BJP people conspire everywhere. This time, their conspiracy will not work. First, they will lose in Bengal, and then they will lose in UP as well."

Politics in West Bengal has heated up ahead of the Legislative Assembly elections next year. Union Minister Amit Shah gave the clarion call for the polls to BJP workers in the state during his visit to Kolkata.

During his press conference, Shah said that "fear and corruption" have become the identity of West Bengal for the last 14 years. He also questioned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the alleged infiltration of illegal immigrants in the state, accusing her government of refusing to provide land for border fencing. He also chaired a meeting of BJP MLAs and MPs in Kolkata.

On the other hand, Mamata Banerjee responded by referring to Shah as "Dushasana", a mythological character in the Mahabharat. On TMC's foundation day, she reiterated the party's commitment to Ma-Mati-Manush and vowed to continue its struggle for the common people.

Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav also slammed UP CM Yogi Adityanath, claiming the CM was asking EC officials to commit fraud on SIR data.

"When the Chief Minister said that four crore votes had been deducted from his count, he was essentially telling the officials to commit fraud... The data emerging at this time proves that the Election Commission and its officials need to demonstrate their credibility. Because if there is a discrepancy between figures from the state government and those from SIR, the EC will have to consider the purpose of SIR and the whole revision process," Akhilesh Yadav told reporters in Lucknow.

Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter lists has been an issue of contention in the state, with the Samajwadi Party alleging electoral fraud.

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As per the revised schedule for UP, the draft electoral roll will be published on January 6.

The period for receiving claims and objections will go on from January 6 to February 6, while the final publication of Uttar Pradesh's electoral roll will be on March 6.