Day after a flashpoint meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee flagged concerns regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the state.
Banerjee, while addressing a press conference with alleged “victims” of the SIR process in Bengal, said they were not being given an opportunity to defend themselves, PTI news agency reported.
“People sitting behind us are all SIR victims. I could have brought lakhs of people here…They are not giving an opportunity to SIR victims to defend themselves,” Banerjee said in Delhi. This comes after Banerjee led a 14-member delegation, including Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders Abhishek Banerjee and Kalyan Banerjee, and members of “SIR affected families” from West Bengal.
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Mamata Banerjee walks out of meeting with Election Commission
Banerjee met the Election Commission in the Capital to raise concerns about the SIR process in West Bengal.
{{/usCountry}}Banerjee met the Election Commission in the Capital to raise concerns about the SIR process in West Bengal.
{{/usCountry}}However, the Bengal CM walked out of the meeting with CEC Gyanesh Kumar at his office, accusing him of “insulting, disrespecting and humiliating” her.
Banerjee alleged that the CEC had spoken to her “with a certain attitude”, while calling the EC “very arrogant.”
“Will the Election Commission choose the government before the election. We are watching. You have the power of the BJP. We have the power of the people. So we boycotted the meeting. They have insulted us, humiliated us. I am saying this type of Election Commission is very arrogant. He spoke with a certain attitude. Deliberately, he behaved so badly with us. He behaved badly, and he treated us badly,” the Bengal CM said.
The Election Commission countered Banerjee, saying she had left without hearing the EC's responses, according to PTI.
Banerjee and the TMC have been demanding the halting of the ongoing SIR of the state’s electoral roll, saying it had unfairly targeted West Bengal voters.
They have further alleged that the exercise in its present form would lead to “mass disenfranchisement” and “strike at the foundations of democracy”. The Bengal CM has also accused the Election Commission of serious irregularities and administrative lapses during the process.