West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of conspiring to carry out an exercise similar to Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in West Bengal, vowing that she would not allow such an initiative in the state.
Addressing thousands of supporters at the Trinamool Congress (TMC) Martyrs’ Day rally in Kolkata, Banerjee said the BJP and the Election Commission were “conspiring against Bengal” and alleged that they intended to remove Bengali voters from the electoral list.
“I will not allow any SIR-like exercise in Bengal,” Banerjee said. “They want to snatch away the rights of Bengalis, but we will not let that happen.”
The Election Commission had announced the SIR for Bihar on 24 June ahead of the state’s Assembly elections. The poll body said on Thursday that more than 94% of electors in Bihar had been covered under the process, which is scheduled to conclude on 25 July.
Opposition parties have voiced concerns that the drive could be extended to other states, sparking fears of voter list manipulation.
Taking a swipe at Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during her address, Banerjee said Sarma was “meddling” in Bengal’s affairs while failing to manage his own state properly.
She questioned the Assam government’s decision to send a National Register of Citizens (NRC) notice to a farmer in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district.
“Who has authorised the BJP government in Assam to send NRC notices to Bengal residents?” Banerjee asked. The 50-year-old farmer had received a notice from the Foreigners Tribunal in Assam’s Kamrup district, directing him to submit valid documents to prove he was not an illegal migrant.
Banerjee further accused the BJP of unleashing “terror” on Bengalis and their language, warning that if such actions continued, the resistance would reach Delhi. She urged TMC workers to stage protest rallies every weekend after 27 July to oppose what she described as the BJP’s “attacks on Bengalis”.
“Our fight will continue till the BJP is removed from the Centre,” Banerjee declared, reiterating that the TMC would stand firm to protect the people of Bengal from what she called repeated harassment in BJP-ruled states.
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