Will Trinamool's Mega Rally in Kolkata Challenge the SIR?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Kolkata, Oct 16 (NationPress) With hints that the Election Commission of India's notification regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal is imminent, the Trinamool Congress is gearing up for a significant protest through a grand rally in Kolkata following the festive celebrations of Kali Puja, Diwali, and Bhai Photo (Bhai Dhuj).
According to sources within the Trinamool Congress, this major anti-SIR rally is anticipated to take place in the initial week of November. The event will feature prominent speakers, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and party general secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee.
At the rally, both the Chief Minister and the party’s general secretary are expected to outline the strategies for the anti-SIR movement across the state in the forthcoming months. The Chief Minister will likely elucidate the Trinamool Congress’s arguments against the SIR,” shared an unnamed member of the state cabinet.
The leadership of the Trinamool Congress has begun to challenge the predictions made by senior BJP leaders, such as the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, and Union Minister of State, Santanu Thakur, about the number of voters whose names might be removed after the SIR, even before the official announcement is made.
The Chief Minister had previously asserted that she would not accept the removal of any voters from a specific community's names in the electoral rolls post-SIR.
Many leaders from the Trinamool Congress, including elected officials and members of the state cabinet, have warned that “West Bengal will erupt if even one genuine voter's name is taken off the list.”
The Trinamool Congress has labeled the SIR as a “scheme” devised by the BJP and the Union government to impose an NRC in West Bengal. Conversely, the BJP claims that the Chief Minister is resisting the SIR to ensure that the names of Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators remain on the voters' list.