Kolkata, 19 January (H.S.): Political reactions have intensified in West Bengal following the Supreme Court’s directions to the Election Commission regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee on Monday said that the “game being played by the BJP in the name of SIR” in the state has now come to an end.
Addressing party workers at Barasat in North 24 Parganas district, Banerjee said the Bharatiya Janata Party had suffered a decisive setback in court and would also face defeat in the upcoming Assembly elections at the hands of the people.
He stated that the Supreme Court had accepted TMC’s demands and directed the Election Commission to make public the list of voters placed under the category of so-called “logical discrepancies.” The court has also ensured the presence of booth-level representatives of political parties at hearing centres during the revision process, he added.
According to Banerjee, the BJP, as part of a larger conspiracy, had attempted to remove the names of nearly one crore voters from the electoral rolls, but this effort failed due to the Supreme Court’s intervention. He described the development as a victory for the people of Bengal and for democracy.
Banerjee recalled that on December 21 last year, a TMC delegation had met the Chief Election Commissioner and demanded that the complete list of voters flagged for logical discrepancies be made public. However, the Election Commission did not accept the demand at that time.
Launching a sharp attack on the BJP, Banerjee said Bengal’s soil has borne witness to the freedom movement and the renaissance, and its people would never compromise on their voting rights.
Notably, the Supreme Court has directed that the Special Intensive Revision process be conducted in a fully transparent manner and that ordinary voters should not face any inconvenience or mental distress. The court has also ordered that lists of voters who have received notices be displayed at panchayat and block offices.
Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh
