West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee demands halt to voter roll revision, calls it ‘super emergency’
Speaking at an administrative meeting in North Bengal, Mamata Banerjee accused the ECI of keeping government officials occupied with election-related duties to hinder regular administrative functioning over the next three months. She called for an immediate stay on the SIR process, alleging that it was politically motivated.
New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has once again mounted controversy as she asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to immediately halt the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being conducted across several states, describing the exercise as a "Super Emergency.”
Speaking at an administrative meeting in North Bengal, Banerjee accused the ECI of keeping government officials occupied with election-related duties to hinder regular administrative functioning over the next three months. She called for an immediate stay on the SIR process, alleging that it was politically motivated.
Is SIR a 'votebandi' move
"This is a deliberate attempt to malign people! So many have died, yet not a single condolence message has come from the Election Commission,” Banerjee said. "You can send me to jail or cut my throat, but don’t strike off the name of even a single genuine voter.”
The Chief Minister questioned the timing and intent behind conducting the SIR ahead of elections, calling it a "votebandi” (vote restriction) move. She also lashed out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, holding him responsible for internal security lapses and alleged cross-border infiltration. "If the country’s internal security, CRPF, and BSF are under his charge, then Amit Shah should take responsibility and resign,” she said.
Banerjee further criticised the Goods and Services Tax (GST), labelling it a "blunder” and demanding that it be rolled back, arguing that it has harmed the state’s economy.
This is not the first time Banerjee has raised objections to the voter roll revision exercise. Last week, she led a massive protest in Kolkata against the SIR, warning that the fall of the BJP-led Central government would be "inevitable” if even a single eligible voter was removed from the electoral rolls.
Mahua's blistering post on X
Meanwhile, TMC MP Mahua Moitra alleged that the **2002 Bengal voter lists are available only in PDF format and are not searchable. "To find a father’s name in the 2002 list, one has to visit the same polling booth, print the entire electoral roll, and manually search through over a thousand names. It’s an impossible task to map,” she said in an X post