Why Were SIR Deaths Excluded from Bengal Assembly Obituaries?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Kolkata, Feb 3 (NationPress) A notable political confrontation has erupted in West Bengal regarding the exclusion of the names of victims from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the Anandapur warehouse fire tragedy from the obituary list during the initial day of the Assembly's budget session on Tuesday.
As is customary, the Assembly was adjourned following the obituary announcements.
Following the adjournment, Shankar Ghosh, the Chief Whip of the Bharatiya Janata Party's legislative group in the state Assembly, criticized the treasury bench for not including the names of the SIR and Anandapur fire victims in the obituary mentions.
“While Trinamool Congress leaders, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, consistently blame the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the numerous deaths linked to the revision process and even traveled to New Delhi to protest, the treasury bench seems hesitant to formally acknowledge their claims by including these victims in the obituary. This highlights the contradictions within the ruling party,” Ghosh remarked.
Conversely, Trinamool Congress’s Chief Whip Nirmal Ghosh defended the omission, stating that a special motion addressing the SIR exercise will be presented during the budget session for detailed deliberation, thus the names of the SIR victims were not included in the obituary list. “We are not attempting to overlook this tragedy,” Ghosh emphasized.
On the subject of the Anandapur warehouse fire, the BJP’s Chief Whip asserted that the absence of the victims' names from the obituary list represents yet another inconsistency within the ruling Trinamool Congress.
“Trinamool Congress leaders are vocal about the unfortunate deaths of migrant workers from West Bengal in other states, yet they show reluctance concerning the tragic demise of many workers from the state in the Anandapur fire incident,” he noted.
However, the Chief Whip of Trinamool Congress contended that since the final casualty figures from the tragedy have not yet been confirmed, the victims' names were not included in the obituary mentions.