Mamata paints 'SIR' and 'Vanish' at dharna stage, turns to art to protest voter roll revision
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal 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.
Banerjee has been staging the sit-in since March 6 to protest against the Special Intensive Revision (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.
The ruling All India Trinamool Congress 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 Trinamool Congress 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 Bharatiya Janata Party.
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Man arrested for illegal diesel storage in Dakshina Kannada
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): A 35-year-old man was arrested for allegedly storing large quantities of diesel without licence in Dakshina Kannada district, police said on Tuesday.
The incident was reported at Mudalthiyar in Kaniyooru village of Belthangady taluk in this district, they said.
Acting on a tip-off received by Belthangady Sub-Divisional Police Officer Rohini C K, a police team conducted a raid at the location on the night of March 9, officials said.
During the search, officers found diesel stored in a shed near the house of the accused, identified as Jagadeesh, a senior police officer said.
Police said about 20 barrels with a capacity of around 200 litres each and five cans of approximately 35 litres capacity were found filled with diesel.
In all, around 4,175 litres of diesel worth about Rs 3.5 lakh was seized from the premises.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that the fuel had been stocked without any valid licence and without adhering to mandatory safety regulations, posing potential safety risks, police said.
A case has been registered at Uppinangady Police Station, and further investigation is under way.
Officials noted that the village in this incident is situated close to the 280 kilometer Mangalore-Bangalore Petroleum Pipeline owned by Petronet India, which starts near MRPL in Dakshina Kannada and ends to Devanagundi village just outside Nelamangala near Bengaluru. It passes through the eco-sensitive Western ghats part in Dakshina Kannada and Chikkamgaluru districts.
