"Police stopped us with great fanfare": Congress's Junaid Khan slams WB govt over SIR protest

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], October 14 (ANI): Junaid Khan, State General Secretary of the Youth Congress, questioned the West Bengal Police after Congress members were detained during a protest march towards the state Election Commission against the SIR process in the state.
Speaking to ANI on Monday, the Congress leader stated that the police intervened during their protest as they were about to surround the State Election Commission headquarters.
"We were going to surround an election commission meeting, but the police stopped us in the middle of the road....Whose government is in power here... Whose side is the West Bengal police on? The BJP's?" Khan told ANI.
He stated that they initiated the protest to stop the SIR from being implemented in West Bengal.
"The reason for holding the protest was that the S.I.R., which is being implemented in Bihar, is going to be implemented in West Bengal in the coming days. We were going to hold an election commission meeting to stop the S.I.R.," added Khan.
Meanwhile, West Bengal police detained Youth Congress members during their protest march to the state Election Commission regarding the SIR process, which is likely to commence in November.
Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party National Spokesperson and MP Sambit Patra accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of allegedly threatening riots following the SIR exercise.
In a video posted on X, Patra alleged that the Chief Minister Banerjee stated that if SIR is conducted in the eastern state, riots will break out in Bengal, and there will be horrifying consequences.
"....Mamata Banerjee said that if SIR is done, riots will break out in Bengal and there will be horrifying consequences...The rioting will be done by you, because it is your government which is in power there, and it is your Police there. Mamata Banerjee you are issuing threats..," said Patra.
The West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, opposed the EC's decision to conduct a nationwide SIR of electoral rolls and warned the BJP to "not play with fire.
"I warned the BJP, don't play with fire. Be prepared for public outrage. People of Bengal never believe you. I heard that the Union Home Minister said in a party meeting that we will drop many names; who is he to drop them? Today, his government is there, but tomorrow it will not be there," the Chief Minister said. (ANI)