Abhishek to meet CEC over SIR ‘harassment’, warns of street protests from Jan 2
Times of India | 28 December 2025
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said on Saturday he would lead a party delegation to New Delhi on Dec 31 to meet the chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged harassment and deaths linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bengal. The Diamond Harbour MP also threatened to take to the streets on the issue from Jan 2.
"I am going to meet the chief election commissioner on Dec 31 and seek answers to questions. If their intent is correct and they don't have anything to hide, they should answer our questions," Banerjee said. Alleging that 1.36 crore names have come under "logical discrepancy," Banerjee said many existing voters have been shown as deceased. He said TMC would demand a list of these 1.36 crore "suspicious" voters, and if the commission fails to provide it, the party would blockade the EC's office in the national capital.
Banerjee said the EC should publish the list of infiltrators identified in the SIR process. "The SIR exercise was initiated because the BJP thought that nearly 1 crore people would be deleted from the voters' list. They cast aspersions on Bangladeshis and Rohingya being included in the voters' list. Now the EC needs to tell us how many of the Bangladeshis and Rohingya were identified," he said.
He said only 5.7% of names were deleted in Bengal, while it was 12.5% in Tamil Nadu, 10% in Gujarat and over 12% in Uttar Pradesh. "Why isn't the EC sending micro-observers to these states? It is because Bengal has been targeted over the past four and a half years, and the central govt is now trying to pick and choose voters in this state," Banerjee said.
"We are starting a campaign from Jan 2. During the SIR exercise, we did not undertake any programmes. Our responsibility is to bring the work of our govt over the past 15 years to the doorstep of the state's people. Many people are being excluded from the voter list as part of a conspiracy to take over Bengal. We will protest on the streets."