Trinamul Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee today said they [BJP] will desperately attempt to implement Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bengal, but it will only increase the trust and love people have for the TMC.
If the BJP tries to snatch away the rights of a single person through SIR, we will not allow that. This is the difference between Bihar and Bengal. This is the difference between us and any other state, said the MP.
Speaking outside the Parliament today, Abhishek said the information that has come up in connection with SIR is deeply concerning. Genuine voters and citizens are being removed from the list, while dogs and tractors are being issued residential certificates. These certificates are being accepted by the ECI. People cannot vote, but dogs can. The SIR stands for ‘Silent Invisible Rigging’. The ECI has started this in favour of the BJP.
Adding to that, he said, “The ECI wants to snatch away the voting rights of those people who question the government. The biased behaviour they are showing has previously been seen, and it has not borne results in Bengal. They did this in Bihar. I believe that the people of Bihar will give a befitting response. The matter is being heard in the Supreme Court. The hearing has been deferred, and the next hearing is in August. We have full faith in the judiciary.”
“We will perform better in 2026 than we did in the 2021 Assembly elections, the 2023 panchayat elections, and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” he said.
Those who carried out demonetisation and wanted the NRC, those who have pushed the country to the edge, are now blaming Indira Gandhi and Nehru for this. Who is responsible for the Pahalgam attack? You defame Bengal by claiming that Mamata Banerjee facilitates the entry of Bangladeshis through the borders. Who is responsible for the borders in Jammu and Kashmir? Who heads the J&K Police? How did the four terrorists enter? And they deliver grand speeches! They are saying infiltrators entered Bengal, but it happened due to whose incompetence? he asked.
“Why will the US President decide India’s actions? The same Narendra Modi used to call this a ‘remote control government’ before 2014 and claimed that Manmohan Singh was run by remote control from 10, Janpath. At least back then, the remote used to be here in Delhi. But now, the remote control is in the US, in Washington. Is India being controlled by the US President? Yesterday too, the US President claimed that he stopped the war. Neither the PM, nor the home minister, the EAM, and the defence minister are saying that they do not support Donald Trump’s statement. In writing, they could at least say this, said Abhishek.
“If they had given total freedom to our paramilitary forces, the Army, Air Force, and Navy, then by today, POK could have been under India’s control. If they were given full freedom, then why did they stop the war? Is it because the US President pressured them? This means that the dreams, hopes and aspirations of Indian people have no value, and Donald Trump will decide our actions. A country cannot be run this way,” said the Diamond Harbour MP.
Coming back to the SIR, he said: “Those who are doing SIR are scared of the people of India. You have seen where the margins of their central leaders have come down. I am not saying anything more. They [BJP] do not want to face the people. None of their leaders have the courage to address the press and answer questions.”
Giving indication of the party’s next move, Abhishek said that there might again be mass movement in Delhi. “We have seen the step-motherly attitude towards the people of Bengal since 2021. They stopped our funds, and now they are trying to stop voting rights. Because they know that if people get a chance to vote, they will do so against the BJP. But the people will exercise their right to vote. If needed, we will organise a mass movement here in Delhi. We will hit the ground, taking along the people,” he said.