Bengal to witness violence if genuine voter names deleted after SIR: Trinamool leader

Kolkata, Oct 10 (IANS) Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member and former West Bengal Minister, Partha Bhowmick, said on Friday that the state will witness violence if the name of a single genuine voter is deleted from the voters' list after the Election Commission of India (ECI)-proposed special intensive revision (SIR).

He also gave a call to the people that they should chase and detain the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in different regions of the state in case the name of a single genuine voter is deleted from the voters' list.

"I am telling you to chase and detain BJP leaders in different localities in case the name of a single genuine voter is deleted from the voters' list. The SIR is not anyone's parental property that it could be used to delete names of genuine voters from the voters' list. If they try to delete names of genuine voters from the voters' list, the state will be on the boil under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee," Bhowmik said while addressing a local-level Trinamool Congress leaders and party workers at Bagda in North 24 Parganas district.

His words of caution sounded like a continuation of similar caution issued by Chief Minister Banerjee while addressing the media persons at the State Secretariat on Thursday afternoon.

"I will not tolerate it if the names of people from any particular community in the state are deleted from the voters' list because of this unnecessary hurry. I am asking them (ECI) not to play with fire. A crisis-like situation because of a natural calamity is still prevailing in West Bengal. The houses of several people have been washed away because of the floods. In such a situation, from where will they furnish the necessary documents for the SIR? Some are on vacation because of the ongoing festive season. How will they furnish the documents?" the Chief Minister said on Thursday.

Since the beginning, Trinamool Congress had been opposing the SIR and claimed that it was a political ploy by the BJP and the Union government to impose the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in West Bengal.

On the other hand, the BJP had claimed that Trinamool Congress and Chief Minister Banerjee were opposing the SIR out of fear that the names of illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya voters would be deleted from the voters' list.

The last time the SIR was conducted in West Bengal was in 2002.

--IANS

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