"Rahul Gandhi is misleading nation, TMC is scared": Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde amid protests over SIR

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 25 (ANI): Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde has accused Congress MP Rahul Gandhi of "misleading the people of the country", and said that the ruling Trinamool Congress is "scared" that " Bangladeshis" will be removed from the voter list following the conclusion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.
The exercise is underway in ten states and three Union Territories.
"Whatever Rahul Gandhi is saying regarding the SIR is trying to mislead the people of the nation. On the one hand, he says the voter list is incorrect, and on the other hand, he protests against the SIR exercise...TMC is scared that after the SIR exercise, the Bangladeshis who vote for them will be removed from the voter list, and it will be difficult for them to stay in power," Shinde told ANI.
CM Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday lambasted the BJP over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in the state, saying "nobody can throw you (electors) out."
Addressing a public meeting opposing the SIR exercise, Mamata Banerjee confronted the BJP, stating she does not fear them. She questioned if the aim of the SIR is to remove Bangladeshi nationals from the voter list, then why is the Election Commission conducting the exercise in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh?"
She said, "I love Bangladesh as a country, because our language is the same. I am from Birbhum, but one day they will call me Bangladeshi. PM Modi got votes in 2024 as per the same list. If your name gets deleted, the Central government should also be deleted. Why is SIR in such a hurry?"
"Till I am here, I will not allow them to throw you out. Nobody can throw you out. If Bangladeshi is a problem, then why are you conducting SIR in Madhya Pradesh and UP?" she asked.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday that "chaos" has been unleashed across the country in the garb of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls and alleged that 16 Booth Level Officers have died due to stress.
"Under the guise of SIR, chaos has been unleashed across the country - the result? In three weeks, 16 BLOs have lost their lives. Heart attacks, stress, suicides - SIR is no reform, it's an imposed tyranny," Rahul Gandhi alleged in a post on X in Hindi earlier.
The final elector's list is to be published on February 7, 2026.
These states and UTs include Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. (ANI)