Bengal achieved what Bihar, Tamil Nadu couldn’t: TMC

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday claimed a political victory after the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to make public the list of voters with “logical discrepancies” identified during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls— a demand the Bengal ruling party had repeatedly raised.

Addressing a Press conference, TMC leaders Bratya Basu, Chandrima Bhattacharya and Partha Bhowmick said the apex court’s order vindicated the party’s stand and validated demands raised by TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in the interest of the people of Bengal.

They also claimed that Bengal had achieved what Bihar and Tamil Nadu could not.

“Mamata Banerjee wrote several letters to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) raising concerns and placing demands related to the SIR, but the ECI did not act.

Our national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, also led a delegation to the ECI office in Delhi and placed these demands before the CEC. We are thankful to the Supreme Court for accepting our demands raised to protect the interests of the people of Bengal,” Bhattacharya and Basu said. The Supreme Court directed that the names of voters called for hearings under the “logical discrepancy” category in the ongoing SIR must be displayed within three days at Gram Panchayat offices, block offices, talukas, sub-divisions, and ward offices in urban and semi-urban areas.

The TMC had repeatedly demanded that the list of voters flagged with “logical discrepancies”— initially estimated at around 1.36 crore in Bengal— be made public. “See the strain and stress going on for the ordinary people… over one crore people are affected,” Justice Joymalya Bagchi orally observed.

“The Supreme Court has directed the ECI to fulfil each of our demands. Our leader, Abhishek Banerjee, said on Monday that answers must be given in the same language one understands. The BJP and the ECI chose an unlawful path, while we followed the right one. The Supreme Court’s order must be displayed at ECI and CEO offices,” Basu said.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “The ECI will not be able to summon people in the name of logical discrepancies at the behest of the BJP. The entire list of hearings must be published, and booth-level agents should be allowed to attend the hearings.”