News Brief
West Bengal SIR: After Transferring 500 Officials, Including 70 IAS, TMC Eases Opposition To Voter Roll Revision Drive
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) appeared to soften its earlier opposition to the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, announced across 12 states, including West Bengal, The Hindu reported.
While Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee did not issue any statements, the party indicated it would not obstruct the exercise but would oppose any irregularities.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the party would “democratically protest” any attempt to delete genuine voters from the rolls. “If there is any unfair practices or abuse of power unleashed on anybody during the SIR process, we will take all legal measures to fight it,” he said, urging supporters to “maintain calm and not fall into the trap of the BJP.”
Earlier, Mamata Banerjee had accused the ECI of using the SIR as a pretext to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state.
The latest remarks from TMC leaders suggest a more restrained approach even as the state government transferred over 500 officials, including 70 IAS officers and 14 district magistrates, hours before the SIR announcement.
The West Bengal Congress, meanwhile, criticised the ECI for ignoring its suggestions, saying the poll body had “not adopted a consultative approach” and demanded all-party meetings at both the state and national levels.
The BJP welcomed the revision, saying it would help remove “dead voters” and “infiltrators.” Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari claimed that over one crore names could be deleted once the process concludes.
The Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, has convened an all-party meeting on the SIR Tuesday (28 October).
