SIR is a hurried exercise that aims to terrorise people of West Bengal, says TMC

Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said on Monday (November 3, 2025) that the SIR was a hurried exercise that aims to terrorise the people of West Bengal. The TMC plans to hit the streets to protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) on Tuesday.

“The way people have been terrorised since the SIR announcement is unacceptable. We have already lost six innocent lives. Who is responsible for these deaths? It is the ECI. The Chief Election Commissioner has blood on his hands,” Mr. Banerjee said, while speaking to media persons in Kolkata.

The Trinamool Congress claimed that a resident of Dankuni in West Bengal’s Hooghly district died due to anxiety triggered by the SIR. “SIR hasn’t even started yet, and six people have died, with victims of all ages from 95 to 28… If the Centre’s intention was to deport people, why is SIR not being conducted in the eight states that share borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh?” the Trinamool Congress general secretary asked.

Meanwhile, ahead of the party rally in Kolkata on Tuesday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee shared a protest song on her social media profile. The song, which was written by the Trinamool Congress chairperson, is sung by Minister of State for Information and Cultural Affairs Indranil Sen.

Indian citizens ‘deported’

During his interaction with media persons, Abhishek Banerjee also highlighted the case of migrant worker Sunali Khatun, who was pushed into Bangladesh allegedly by the Border Security Force (BSF), and despite the orders of the Calcutta High Court, has not been repatriated. The Trinamool leader pointed out that Sunali Khatun’s parents were in the voter list of 2002, yet they have been forced out of the State. The voter list of 2002 is the basis for the ongoing SIR.

Meanwhile, the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly has taken exception to the Information and Cultural Affairs department forwarding the video of the protest song penned by the Chief Minister for Tuesday’s rally.

Sharing a screenshot of I&CA forwarding the political post of the Trinamool Congress, the BJP leader said, “This is not a job for “Cultural Affairs” rather it’s a criminal misuse of public office and State machinery”.

“I would request @ECISVEEP, @CEOWestBengal, and Hon’ble @BengalGovernor to take cognizance and immediately seek an explanation from the concerned Officials and register an FIR against those I&CA Officials responsible for getting involved in political affairs, which is outside the domain of their official engagements,” Mr. Adhikari said.

Counter rally

The BJP leader said that while the Trinamool Congress leaders are holding their rally in Kolkata on Tuesday, he would hold a rally at Panihati in North 24 Parganas in support of the SIR. The Calcutta High Court has allowed the BJP to hold rallies in Panihati and Purba Bardhaman on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Trinamool Congress claimed that Pradip Kumar Kar, a resident of Panihati committed suicide over the NRC. The BJP claims that all the deaths, including that of Mr. Kar, had nothing to do with SIR and the Trinamool Congress leadership was trying to sow fear in the electorate.