A viral video showing Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Nishith Malik openly threatening to “set BJP cadres on fire” has ignited outrage and sharpened accusations that the ruling party in West Bengal is normalising political violence, days after the Election Commission announced the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Malik, the Bardhaman (Uttar) MLA, made the incendiary remarks while leading a TMC procession organised by the party’s Burdwan-II unit on the day the Election Commission announced phase two of the SIR exercise. The march billed as a demonstration to “protect voters’ rights” proceeded from Ullhas Crossing on Old GT Road to Ghordour Chatti, where Malik repeatedly addressed the crowd in strident terms.
“If, in the name of this SIR, the BJP truly intends to discard a single genuine voter, we won’t spare them. We’ll set the party’s cadres on fire in public,” Malik told the procession, according to eyewitnesses. He further urged party workers to “harvest more and more votes to defeat them,” accusing the BJP of attempting to “pollute Bengal.”
The statement, widely circulated by local BJP leaders and social media channels, provoked immediate condemnation. S R Banerjee, a BJP district committee leader, described Malik’s words as “provocative” and “intimidatory,” warning that such rhetoric could “cause disturbances” in an already volatile political climate. Banerjee demanded that the SIR be conducted under the protection of central forces to ensure the safety of officials, the integrity of the voter roll revision, and the security of political workers.
“This is not mere rhetoric it is a fatwa. When elected representatives resort to threats of violence, it reveals a breakdown of political norms and a failure of law enforcement to rein in lawlessness,” Banerjee said.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla slammed on Malik’s remarks, accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party of presiding over a “culture of violence.” “After Firhad Hakim and Abhishek Banerjee, now MLA Nishith Malik has crossed the line. This isn’t Maa, Maati, Manush it’s Gundaraj, Jungleraj and JihadiRaj,” Poonawalla declared, framing the incident as part of a broader pattern of lawlessness he attributes to the TMC.
TMC means Tanashahi Mindset & Culture!
After Firhad Hakim and Abhsihek Banerjee now TMC MLA crosses the line & openly calls for violence .. from breaking legs to setting people on fire to attacking Constitutional bodies…
A fatwa by the local TMC MLA Nishit Malik to set BJP… pic.twitter.com/AUJVADFCXP
— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) October 29, 2025
The Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) seeks to update and purify electoral rolls, identify duplicate or bogus entries, and ensure genuine voters are not disenfranchised. In West Bengal where every revision has historically produced intense political contestation the SIR is especially sensitive. Allegations of coercion or threats during the exercise risk chilling participation by voters and election officials alike.
