Kolkata, Aug 8 (PTI) TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday said neither the party nor any INDIA bloc member has any intentions of disrupting parliamentary proceedings, but insisted that a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls must be undertaken immediately.
Speaking to reporters at NSC Bose International Airport upon his return from New Delhi, the Diamond Harbour MP expressed support for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of voter roll manipulation in a Karnataka Assembly segment.
“His (Gandhi’s) claims should be looked into,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee, who was recently appointed as the TMC parliamentary party leader in the Lok Sabha, said, “We want the House to function, but not without holding a discussion on SIR. The Supreme Court talks about anomalies in the electoral rolls, then how was the 2024 general elections conducted using the old rolls? Were the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, and other cabinet ministers elected using a flawed mandate?” With Bihar elections approaching and West Bengal Assembly polls just months away, Banerjee questioned the feasibility of conducting a comprehensive SIR within a short time frame.
“How can a two-year exercise be completed in two months?” he asked.
Banerjee expressed concern that the SIR process could be manipulated to the BJP’s advantage, especially in constituencies where margins were tight in previous elections.
“In past Lok Sabha results, BJP scraped through in places like Balurghat and Bishnupur by very slim margins. A flawed SIR could unfairly tilt results by eliminating genuine poor voters due to their economic vulnerability. We will not allow SIR in Bengal,” he said.
Continuing his attack, Banerjee also addressed the TMC’s ongoing allegation about harassment of Bengali-speaking migrants in BJP-ruled states.
“Why poor Bengali citizens from West Bengal be harrassed,” he asked.
He also accused the Election Commission (EC) of collusion with the BJP, alleging that there was a conspiracy to deliberately omit genuine voters’ names in West Bengal.
“If even a single name is removed unfairly, we will gherao the EC with one lakh people,” he warned.
To a question if there was any talk about any consensus candidate among the INDIA bloc for the vice-president’s post, he said, “No such discussions have taken place till now. We will decide on the matter at an appropriate time.” PTI SUS MNB
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