Mamata Banerjee Leads Massive Anti-SIR Protest in Bengal, Slams BJP’s ‘Historic’ Claim

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a massive protest rally in Kolkata against the Special Revision of Electoral Rolls (SIR) exercise, accusing the BJP-led central government of manipulating the process for political gains.

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Key Highlights from the Protest

1. Opposition to SIR: Banerjee asserted that she was the first to oppose the SIR process, condemning it as a tool for voter manipulation and public deception.
2. Voter List Irregularities: She alleged that numerous names had been arbitrarily removed from the electoral rolls, forcing citizens to reapply and fill forms again.
3. Aadhaar Controversy: Banerjee criticized the inconsistent use of Aadhaar, questioning why it was mandatory for voter and ration card linking but not required for certain government benefits.
4. Demonetization Reference: Drawing parallels to the 2016 demonetization, she said it failed to curb black money, instead resulting in long queues and loss of lives.
5. Attack on Central Policies: In a fiery statement, she said, “The best way to solve this is to remove the Delhi government; then there will be no need for Aadhaar.”
6. Slogans and Sentiment: Protesters echoed her slogans condemning government policies as acts of “loot and lie.”

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Mamata Slams BJP’s SIR 2.0 Bengal Campaign

Mamata Banerjee also took direct aim at what she termed the BJP’s “SIR 2.0 campaign” in Bengal.
She accused the party of using the voter revision drive as a political strategy to target opposition voters and alter the demographic balance in key constituencies.

Banerjee alleged that the BJP was trying to replicate the same tactics used in other states—removing genuine voters under the guise of database cleansing, while enrolling new ones aligned with its interests.
She warned that Bengal would not tolerate such “electoral engineering”, vowing to mobilize Trinamool Congress cadres and local administrations to safeguard voter rights.

Her speech also drew comparisons with similar exercises in Tamil Nadu and northeastern India, calling the SIR 2.0 campaign “a nationwide attempt to rewrite democracy.”

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Wider Political Message

The rally evolved into a broader denunciation of central government actions, touching on economic hardship, constitutional overreach, and social unrest.
Protesters accused the SIR initiative of being a planned maneuver to consolidate political advantage under the guise of electoral reform.

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