Mamata, TMC leaders confront cops in Delhi, claim SIR-affected families brought from Bengal 'threatened'
New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday confronted police personnel deployed outside the Banga Bhawan in Delhi's Chanakyapuri and alleged harassment of the families affected by the SIR exercise in her state who have been brought to the national capital by the TMC. Police said security arrangements in the area have been stepped up after the incident. Addressing reporters, Banerjee said that the people from Bengal had come to raise their issue with the Election Commission, but were being "threatened". She questioned the heavy police deployment outside the Bhawan's premises. However, Banerjee added that she doesn't blame the police, but "those who are on the top", referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The chief minister had reached the national capital on Sunday, a day before her meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on the SIR issue. Around 50 families impacted by the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal have been brought to the national capital and are staying at various properties of the state government, including the Banga Bhawan in Chanakyapuri. A few of these families were later taken to the meeting at the Election Commission on Monday. Amid high drama, Banerjee reached the Banga Bhawan in Delhi's Chanakyapuri on Monday morning, where she confronted the Delhi Police over the "heavy" security deployment. Banerjee was seen directly confronting the security personnel and asking them to be sensitive towards the families of those who have been impacted by the SIR in her state. "People from Bengal are being threatened in Banga Bhawan… Our case is going on in the Supreme Court; we have a meeting at the Election Commission. We are here with an official appointment… People have died, can their families not talk to the media?" Banerjee said while talking to reporters. The chief minister said, "Many families are here who have been impacted by the SIR process. Delhi Police have been deployed everywhere the SIR-affected families are staying. Where is the Delhi Police when a blast happens in Delhi?" "But I don't blame the Delhi Police, I blame those who are on the top. This is incompetence... They can't protect the nation, they torture Bengal and the common people, and are committing atrocities in the name of SIR," she alleged. "They get nervous when I come here… I could have brought lakhs of people," Banerjee said.
Claiming that Delhi has become "like a Zamindari", she said it has no place for the poor. Banerjee was earlier seen approaching the police personnel at the Bhawan and saying, "I am not here for an agitation; if I was here for an agitation, you would have lost your mind." She also said the Delhi Police should not bother the SIR-affected families that have come to the city. "We are here for justice…" she said. Police presence was increased at the Banga Bhawan in Chanakyapuri and Mandi House with personnel stationed at multiple points near the premises, police said, without elaborating on specific security arrangements. Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs, including Saket Gokhale, Dola Sen, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Bapi Haldar, meanwhile, rushed to different locations in the national capital where the SIR-impacted families are staying. Gokhale was seen confronting the police personnel deployed outside a West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited guesthouse in Delhi's Kailash Colony. Twenty people affected by the revision exercise in the eastern state are staying here.
Gokhale told reporters that the Delhi Police came to check the register there in the morning, and around 25-30 police personnel, along with a bus purportedly to carry detainees, was deployed at the location. "The Delhi Police had told them they would be detained if they stepped out, and the gates had been locked. When I spoke to the police, they said it was a security measure for the Republic Day. When I said the Republic Day had passed, I was told an AI summit is happening," he said. 'I asked them where the Delhi Police is when blasts happen in Delhi?" he said. Gokhale was joined by TMC MPs Sen and Haldar. He said after the confrontation, the police removed the bus, and the number of personnel deployed was reduced. "They were targeted only because they are Bengalis and speak Bangla..." Gokhale added. TMC Lok Sabha MP Dastidar was also seen in a face-off with police personnel here. The issue was further raised in the Rajya Sabha by TMC's deputy leader Sagarika Ghose. "A delegation led by the chief minister, of victims of the SIR process who have suffered all kinds of losses, were harassed and manhandled by the Delhi Police...," Ghose said. TMC MPs also raised slogans in the House slamming the police force. The West Bengal chief minister, along with party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, held an interaction with the SIR-affected families at the Banga Bhawan at Delhi's Hailey Road. Banerjee has also filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the ongoing SIR of the electoral rolls in the state.
