The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is “match fixing”, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev speaks to The New Indian Express in an interview. She claims that it is a politically motivated attempt to tamper with voter rolls. She warns that if the process is initiated in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress will take to the streets in mass protest. Excerpts:
How does the TMC view the SIR exercise in Bihar?
The Election Commission has every right to review a voter’s list, removing names of the deceased or those who have relocated. But how they are doing it makes it unconstitutional and an exclusionary exercise. The EC suddenly started it on short notice, without any discussion with any political party. The EC is seeking documents from three time periods: pre-1987, 1987–2004, and post-2004.
If you look at Section 3 of the Citizenship Act 1955, the entire 1987-2004 period has been lifted from the Citizenship Act. The EC cannot enter into an inquiry on whether a person is a citizen or not. It suggests the poll panel is overstepping its mandate by entering the domain of citizenship verification. Hence, the TMC is certain this is a backdoor National Register of Citizens exercise to exclude voters under the guise of a routine revision. The timing of the exercise, after 2024 polls also raises suspicion. It is a motivated move triggered by the BJP’s drop in support.
What are your concerns regarding this process in West Bengal?
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee remains one of the strongest challengers to the BJP. Unable to counter her grassroots strength, the BJP is resorting to what Abhishek Banerjee calls a “silent intensive rigging” (SIR) through voter list manipulation. They can’t beat our organisational strength. So they are going to en masse exclude people to tamper with the election result.
Over 11,000 voters were removed from Bihar’s list as “untraceable” on July 22, which mysteriously jumped to over one lakh the very next day. All this, even as the EC claims it will help people submit documents between August 1 and September 1. They are abusing laws to turn it into an exclusionary exercise. I have every reason to believe that they have already done this exercise, the BJP as a party, and now they are working backwards through the EC. This is match-fixing.
Mamata Banerjee said the SIR would not be allowed in Bengal. Can the party or a state government stop such an exercise?
The TMC has already moved Supreme Court. Mamata Banerjee will not remain silent as genuine citizens are disenfranchised. She has more workers per booth than the Booth Level Officers, and they will be on the ground to resist any unjust exclusion. She won’t hesitate to take to the streets if needed.
EC recently asked for delinking the office of the Chief Electoral Officer from the West Bengal government for autonomy...
The Trinamool Congress opposes this demand because it sees it as a strategic attempt to bypass state oversight and weaken the role of the elected state government in the electoral process. If this is not a predetermined exercise to tamper with and manipulate the West Bengal elections, then why are you worried?
There have been reports of attacks on Bengali-speaking migrant workers in other states. Is TMC getting support from INDIA bloc partners on this?
For us, the real issue isn’t whether the INDIA bloc is supporting us or not. The core concern is that Mamata Banerjee has a constitutional and moral responsibility to protect genuine citizens of her state. We have been raising this issue in Parliament every single day. We have been asking for a debate. But the Union government is saying, ‘This is not its business… The Election Commission is doing it.’