Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee will hold a mega strategy meeting relating to the implementation of SIR on Saturday. Over one lakh participants are expected to join Banerjee’s meeting virtually from across the state.
The meeting was initially scheduled to take place on Thursday, and the programme has been rescheduled for Saturday, party sources said.
It was learnt that apart from TMC MPs, MLAs, the leaders at different levels, party spokespersons, and BLA2 will also attend the meeting. It was learnt from the party sources that Banerjee may give an outline on how to continue the fight against the “hasty” implementation of SIR. Logical discrepancy issues may also find a place in the discussion. One of the main objectives of the meeting is to help people amid the current situation.
Banerjee has highlighted the hardships caused by the “unplanned” FIR and held the Election Commission of India (ECI) responsible for SIR-related deaths. During Saturday’s meeting, he is expected to issue guidelines to further intensify anti-SIR protests. In previous meetings, he warned party leaders that no lapses would be tolerated regarding SIR and directed MLAs to remain available in their constituencies. Following his instructions, SIR-related war rooms were set up across districts, with several leaders assigned to monitor their operations.
Banerjee has sought an appointment with West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal, amid mounting political tensions over the ongoing SIR. His party had sent an email to the CEO, requesting a meeting on January 27, with Banerjee likely to lead a 10-member delegation. If everything goes as planned, Agarwal may meet the TMC delegation on that day. This comes as the second phase of SIR sparks TMC protests over “logical discrepancies” in the voter list. Last Monday, the Supreme Court directed ECI to display the names with discrepancies at local offices across West Bengal.
Banerjee had also met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in December to raise concerns about the voter list revision.