Kolkata, 01 March (H.S.):

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is planning a protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process of the voter list. Trinamool Congress National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee has announced that the Chief Minister will sit on a sit-in at the Metro Channel (Esplanade), Dharmatala in Kolkata, starting at 2 p.m. on Friday, March 6. Abhishek indicated that Mamata Banerjee may also announce further agitational programmes that day.

Following the publication of the first phase of the voter list on Saturday, it was revealed that the names of approximately 6.3 million voters have been removed from the list, while the names of approximately 6 million voters have been kept under consideration. This has drawn strong objection from the ruling party.

Speaking to reporters at Trinamool Congress Bhavan on Sunday, Abhishek Banerjee alleged that the names of a large number of valid voters have been unjustly removed from the list published by the Election Commission of India, which is against the democratic process.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leadership claimed that ordinary people are being deprived of their right to vote due to administrative negligence and motivated decisions in the name of SIR. Minorities, migrant workers, and marginalized communities are being most affected. In protest, the Chief Minister herself is taking to the streets and joining the protest.

The party has clarified that the protest will be peaceful and will demand the Election Commission immediately reinstate the names of those removed from the list. It has also been indicated that the scope of the protest may be expanded if necessary.

Notably, the tussle between the Election Commission and the Trinamool Congress has been ongoing since the beginning of the SIR process. At a program in her constituency on Thursday, the Chief Minister expressed apprehension that the names of approximately 120,000 valid voters could be removed. However, in the first phase alone, more than 6.3 lakh names were removed and 6 million were pending. The Trinamool Congress alleges that the Commission is acting at the behest of the central ruling BJP and selectively excluding those who did not vote for the BJP from the list.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey