SIR vs madam on cards as Mamata Banerjee gears up to oppose ECI amid Bihars voters list change
The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar's voter list, which has resulted in the deletion of millions of names, has sparked outrage among opposition parties. With similar concerns looming over West Bengal's upcoming elections, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) is preparing a large-scale protest movement to oppose any potential voter list purge.
Kolkata: The Monsoon Session of the Parliament is witnessing chaos. Several opposition parties, including Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Shiv Sena (UBT), have raised their voices against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters' list ahead of the state's Assembly elections this year. Moreover, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has threatened to boycott the elections in Bihar.
The Assembly elections in Bengal are scheduled to take place in 2026, and the Election Commission can subject the state's voters' list to SIR. Amid such a scenario, the ruling TMC is preparing to take to the streets and use people's movement as a tool, not a boycott of the vote, while countering the SIR.
In the ongoing SIR of Bihar's electoral rolls, house-to-house visits by the poll officials in the state unearthed that over 52 lakh voters were not present at their addresses, and another 18 lakh have died, according to the Election Commission. Opposition parties have claimed that the EC exercise will disenfranchise crores of eligible citizens, and the RJD has moved the Supreme Court against the SIR process in Bihar.
Meanwhile, it is being heard that after Bihar, the SIR may start in West Bengal from August. So will the names of lakhs of voters be omitted in this state too?
However, Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, while speaking from the stage on July 21 during the party's annual Martyrs' Day rally, announced that if the names of voters are omitted in Bengal, like in Bihar, then they would wreak havoc. She even threatened to surround the Election Commission office in protest if the SIR takes place in this state.
According to a report by TV9 Bangla, TMC is currently monitoring the situation from the I.N.D.I.An alliance camp inside the Parliament. They are participating in the protests of the alliance every day. Besides, TMC MP Sushmita Dev is going to Assam in a few days on the instructions of Banerjee. A decision on the outline of the movement will be made after examining the situation there.