TMC's Abhishek Banerjee vows to take SIR fight to Delhi, warns Bengal won't be "labelled Bangladeshis"

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], November 4 (ANI): Trinamool Congress national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee said that the party will take the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) fight to Delhi if even a single eligible voter is removed from Bengal's rolls, accusing the BJP and the Election Commission of India of acting in tandem to deprive the state of its identity.
"From the very start we have said that even if a single eligible voter is removed from the list, AITC will take this fight to Delhi; those who act as puppets of the central government to deprive Bengal of its identity and label us Bangladeshis for speaking Bangla will be challenged all the way to the capital," Banerjee said while addressing a press conferernce.
He questioned whether those who died following the announcement of the SIR were considered "valid or invalid voters."
"My question to the BJP and to their friends in the ECI is simple: the 5-6 people who have already died--were they valid or invalid voters?" he asked.
Banerjee urged people "not to fall prey to Citizenship (Amendment) Act camps" warning they risked the "same fate as Assam's victims" sent to detention centres, adding party workers and representatives would be deployed statewide to assist citizens.
He said, "I urge you not to fall prey to CAA camps being set up here; if anyone goes to those camps, you risk the same fate as Assam's victims, where people were sent to detention centres. No one should be scared, our workers are on the ground; from tomorrow, BLA-IIs will go door to door, help desks and camps will be set up, ward rooms will be activated in every constituency, and MPs and MLAs will be on duty, so there is nothing to fear."
He also referred to a series of suicides reportedly linked to panic over the SIR.
"Since SIR was announced a series of tragic incidents have followed; barely 5-6 days have passed and already six suicide cases have come to light, starting with Pradeep Kar in Panihati and a 95-year-old in Ilambazar, a case in Barasat, a person from Bardhaman in Tamil Nadu, and another in Dankuni, all driven by panic and anxiety over SIR," he said.
The TMC leader urged all Bengalis to unite beyond party lines.
"I appeal to everyone that irrespective of religion or party, we must unite against the way the BJP has been hurting Bengal, depriving people of dignity and labelling us as Bangladeshis; I urge every Bengali to stand together and show the BJP the power of Bengal in the 2026 assembly elections," he said.
Banerjee said that Trinamool workers will hold a statewide march to protest SIR, adding that leaders and supporters have been instructed to mobilise locally as enumeration begins.
"The fight against those who take Bengal's votes and call us Bangladeshis is not just Trinamool's but the fight of all 10 crore Bengalis," he said.
The ECI will conduct the second phase of SIR of electoral rolls across 12 States and Union Territories, with the final voter list to be published on February 7, 2026, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said. The first phase of SIR was completed in Bihar before the assembly polls.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, CEC Kumar said the exercise will cover Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Following the Supreme Court's directions, the ECI has included Aadhaar in the list of 12 indicative documents, as per its September 9 order relating to the SIR in Bihar. (ANI)