Soon after the Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the formation of tribunals to hear appeals against exclusions from voter lists during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called off her dharna at Kolkata’s Esplanade, which had entered the fifth day.
“We had launched the dharna for two reasons – the arbitrary deletion of names and to ensure that genuine voters get their names restored in the electoral rolls… The Supreme Court’s decision has opened the door for justice and brought a new ray of hope for the people whose names were deleted or under adjudication due to a logical discrepancy under SIR,” the TMC supremo said, adding she was calling off the dharna “temporarily” as the TMC will keep tabs on future developments.
Addressing the crowd of TMC leaders and party supporters, MP Abhishek Banerjee hailed the Supreme Court’s decision as a “victory of Mamata Banerjee and victory of the people of Bengal”.
“I would like to tell Didi [CM Mamata Banerjee] that your demand has been recognised by the apex court of the country… This is a victory of democracy and Maa-Mati-Manush. This is a victory of CM Mamata Banerjee’s constant struggle and TMC’s relentless fight… It is Bengal’s victory. We need to keep up our fight for the next 50-55 days. This battle will go on till April 30. You [Mamata Banerjee] need to stay fit and fine to safeguard the interests of the 10 crore people of Bengal. Rest, we will handle,” Abhishek, who is considered Number 2 in the party, said to loud cheers.
“CM Mamata Banerjee showed the path on which the TMC walked. We had the blessings of 10 crore people of Bengal. All our demands have been recognised by the SC. When we highlighted the issue of mapped voters, the Supreme Court had assured that even after the polls are announced, if a problem arises even a day before the polls, it will look into the matter to make sure that no legitimate voter of the country suffers,” the TMC MP from Diamond Harbour said.
Highlighting the Supreme Court’s series of orders on SIR in West Bengal, Abhishek said that the apex court has lost faith in the EC “as the poll panel has not been allowed to take decisions unilaterally”. “Judicial officials were appointed by the Supreme Court to hear the adjudication cases in one of the previous hearings. Since they have not been able to work freely, the EC earned the Supreme Court’s rebuke. Now, the Supreme Court has formed a new appellate authority since its orders have been violated by those who created new guidelines in their app to mislead the judicial officials. This struggle doesn’t end here. It will end on the day when every legitimate elector gets back his/her voting right. If someone’s name has been struck off illegitimately, then that person will fill out Form 6 to get re-enrolled in the voters’ list. The SC has said that they will keep a close eye on the proceedings,” the TMC general secretary added.
Accusing the EC of deliberately creating faults in their app so that the adjudication process is delayed and consequently the preparation of voters’ lists, Abhishek said, “The Supreme Court has rebuked the EC for this.”
“We are fighting on the streets, in Parliament, and inside the courts. Some judicial officials are deliberately trying to create obstacles to delay the disposal of cases to postpone the polls. The EC under Gyanesh Kumar is trying to stretch the process. Ideally, it should take 15 days. But they are trying to stretch it to 3-4 months. The Supreme Court has stated that West Bengal’s case will be considered as special. It has been said that names of voters can be enrolled on the electors’ list even a day prior to the polls,” the TMC leader said.
Directing the TMC leaders and workers to assist people who are lining up at DEO offices and other administrative offices to fill out forms, Abhishek said, “It must be ensured that common people, irrespective of their political affiliation, religion, and caste, do not face any trouble. Our demands have been recognised by the SC… Gyanesh Kumar came and went back without answering the questions of the people of Bengal,” he said.
Telling the BJP workers to ensure that the BJP is politically demolished in all the 80,000 polling booths in the state, Abhishek announced that he will visit every Assembly constituency along with the chief minister “to make sure that the BJP doesn’t stand a chance”.
Mamata Banerjee has been staging the sit-in since March 6 to protest against the SIR carried out by the Election Commission of India, alleging that the exercise has led to large-scale deletion of genuine voters in the state ahead of the Assembly polls likely to be held in April.
Mamata turns to art at dharna
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday turned to art as a symbolic form of protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, painting the words “SIR” and “Vanish” on the fifth day of her sit-in demonstration, alleging deletion of genuine voters.
At the dharna stage at Metro Channel in central Kolkata, Banerjee was seen drawing with pastel colours on a canvas with a green background placed on a stand. On top of the canvas, she wrote “SIR”, while she inscribed the word “Vanish” in white in the middle.
The canvas had several small irregular circles and a larger outline resembling some kind of a map, gradually whitewashing portions of the green canvas, apparently symbolising voters being erased from the electoral rolls.
The chief minister was engaged in the drawing while Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was addressing a press conference in the city.
The TMC said that the chief minister used ‘art’ at the protest site to express resistance against what it described as “anti-Bengal forces” and to highlight opposition to the “flawed” revision exercise.
Several supporters also used art in front of the dharna stage to express their protest.
In the past, Banerjee has also referred to the CEC as “Vanish Kumar” while criticising the poll panel’s actions. However, she did not make any direct comment about the poll body chief during Tuesday’s protest.
Over the past few days, the TMC supremo has repeatedly accused the Election Commission of India of “dancing to the tunes of the BJP” and attempting to disenfranchise legitimate voters in the state, an allegation rejected by the opposition BJP. —PTI