TMC to launch anti-SIR campaign; Kolkata rally in Nov likely to be addressed by Mamata, Abhishek
Kolkata (PTI): The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal is planning a mega rally in Kolkata next month to oppose the proposed Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, party sources said on Friday.
The rally, likely to be held in the first or second week of November, is expected to be addressed by TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, the sources said.
"A massive rally is being planned in Kolkata after the festive season, once Kali Puja and Bhai Dooj are over. The venue is likely to be Shahid Minar ground, but if it's unavailable due to prior bookings, we may shift it to the second week of November," a senior TMC leader told PTI.
The move marks the beginning of the party's full-fledged agitation against what Banerjee has repeatedly termed as a "BJP-backed ploy to bring NRC through the backdoor" under the guise of the SIR exercise.
The TMC's offensive comes amidst preparations by the Election Commission (EC) to begin the proposed Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
In September, an EC team led by Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti visited the state to review readiness and conduct training for district election officers.
The ruling party has also questioned how senior BJP leaders, including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and Union Minister of State Shantanu Thakur, could "predict" the number of voters whose names would allegedly be deleted, even before the poll panel issued a formal notification for the exercise.
"Before any notification has come out, how come BJP leaders are claiming that lakhs of names will be removed? Are they writing the script of the SIR from Delhi?" asked another TMC functionary.
TMC leaders have declared that the party will make this issue one of its main political planks in the coming months, accusing the BJP of trying to manipulate the voter list ahead of the state elections.
Several ministers and legislators have warned that "West Bengal will be on the boil" if the name of even a single genuine voter is deleted during the revision process.
The BJP, however, hit back, saying the TMC's opposition stems from fear that the exercise will expose "fake voters and infiltrators" allegedly enrolled under the ruling party's watch.
"The chief minister is opposing a routine electoral rolls revision because she wants to protect Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators who have found a place in the voter list," said a state BJP spokesperson Keya Ghosh.
With the political temperature in Bengal rising fast, the TMC's proposed November rally is expected to set the tone for an intense pre-election confrontation between the state's ruling party and the BJP-led Centre.
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Women's quota bill would have ensured defeat of democracy, Constitution: Aaditya Thackeray
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday said that the passage of the women's quota bill would have ensured a "total defeat of democracy", alleging that the legislation, linked with a delimitation exercise, was a political tool designed to reduce the voice of states.
Thackeray, in a post on X, claimed that the Bill would have amended the Constitution for the political means of the ruling regime to increase seats, reduce the voice of many states and enable the gerrymandering of constituencies to ensure unfair victories.
"The very amendment that would have ensured the total defeat of democracy and the Constitution in India stands rejected by the unity of the Opposition MPs," he wrote.
The legislation should have been called "Delimitation to ensure unfair victory Bill", the former minister said, adding that there was a genuine need to enable 33 per cent reservation for women in the current number of seats.
"Now, it is up to the government to ensure that it is implemented in the 543 seats of the Lok Sabha for the 2029 elections and all elections across India, if that is the real intent of the government," he wrote.
A Constitution Amendment Bill to implement reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats was defeated on Friday in the Lower House.
While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
According to the Constitution Amendment Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
