Abhishek warns of protest with 1L people if even one Bengal voter is dropped under SIR
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee on Friday warned that if even one voter from Bengal is removed from the rolls under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, he would lead a massive protest with one lakh Bengalis at the Election Commission of India (ECI) office.
He alleged that the ECI is being used by the BJP to deliberately omit genuine voters’ names in Bengal.
He said: “I warn those who have sold out ECI, if the names of any voter from Bengal are removed from the list, I will gherao the ECI office with 1 lakh Bengalis. I will not let any discrepancies happen in the voter list. The exercise of SIR takes at least 1-2 years. How will they (ECI) be able to conduct it in only 1-2 months.”
He added: “As the people of Bengal voted against the BJP in the past few elections, the BJP has been trying to snatch voting rights of the people here in the name of SIR exercise.”
Speaking to reporters at NSC Bose International Airport after returning from New Delhi, Abhishek Banerjee said he had urged the Lok Sabha Speaker to permit a discussion on the issue of harassment faced by Bengalis in BJP-ruled states.
“We want the Parliament to continue without stoppages, but discussion should take place on the harassment of Bengalis in other states. Why is the BJP not keen on discussion? What are they trying to hide? Banerjee asked.
On the SIR issue, Banerjee said the INDIA bloc unanimously decided to continue protesting, while condemning the Election Commission of India for allegedly acting on the BJP’s instructions.
He added that the names of 65 lakh voters were removed from the list in Bihar as everything was done so hastily. If the entire exercise is carried out in 1-2 months, the names of the poor people would be deleted first.
Banerjee also expressed support for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of voter roll manipulation in a Karnataka Assembly segment. “His (Gandhi’s) claims should be looked into,” Banerjee said.
“If there are anomalies in the electoral rolls, then how were the 2024 general elections conducted using the old rolls? Were the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, and other cabinet ministers elected using a flawed mandate?” he asked.
“Last time SIR was carried out in 2002 and the list was published in 2004,” Banerjee added. With the Bihar elections approaching and Bengal Assembly polls a few months away, Banerjee questioned the feasibility of conducting a comprehensive SIR within a short time frame.
The Diamond Harbour MP also expressed concern that the SIR could be manipulated to the BJP’s advantage, especially in constituencies where margins were tight in previous elections.
“In past Lok Sabha results, BJP scraped through in places like Balurghat and Bishnupur by very slim margins. A flawed SIR could unfairly tilt results by eliminating genuine poor voters due to their economic vulnerability,” he added.
In reply to a question about whether there was any talk about any consensus candidate among the INDIA bloc for the vice-president’s post, Banerjee said: “No such discussions have taken place till now. We will decide on the matter at an appropriate time.”
