TMC's Abhishek Banerjee heats up SIR battle in Bengal with 30 push-ups, crowd applauds fitness

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee, much to the delight of a crowd on Tuesday, did pushups in a program after a rally over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal. He was challenged in the program for the push ups, and as he beat others with elan, the crowd applauded his fitness.

Abhishek Banerjee, in the last few years, has emerged as one of the fittest politicians in the country. He is known for rigorous hours at the gym, and in the above-mentioned program, Abhishek did 30 push ups while others stopped at around 20. The crowd cheered on with incessant claps as TMC's next-in-command proved his mettle.

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On the SIR issue, Banerjee urged people to confront and "tie up" local BJP leaders if they asked for their parents' birth certificates during the Election Commission's SIR of electoral rolls or any NRC verification exercise in West Bengal.

Banerjee made the comments after visiting the family of Pradeep Kar (57), a resident of Panihati in North 24 Parganas, who allegedly died by suicide, reportedly out of fear of being excluded from the voter list. Linking Kar's death directly to the SIR process, Banerjee accused the BJP and the Election Commission of spreading panic and claimed that anxiety over the NRC had driven the man to take the extreme step.

Meanwhile, a man in Murshidabad district allegedly died by suicide on Tuesday after consuming pesticide, reportedly out of fear of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The TMC has accused the BJP-led central government of using the SIR process to intimidate voters. The party has alleged eight deaths due to SIR in the state.

The deceased, identified as Mohan Sheikh, a resident of the Bagdanga area under Ward No. 12 of Kandi Municipality, allegedly consumed pesticide on Tuesday morning, fearing action under the SIR. According to family members, Sheikh had been anxious for several days after learning that his name had been missing from the voters' list since 2002.