"They are engaging in hooliganism": West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari slams TMC over SIR protests

Howrah (West Bengal) [India], November 3 (ANI): Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, termed the upcoming protest by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) as a 'deliberate' step to divert attention from the real issues.
He termed the accusations made by the TMC regarding the SIR as false.
"They are engaging in hooliganism. This is a completely false accusation... Corruption, women's safety, unemployment, appeasement politics, and attacks on Hindu deities are major issues in this state. They are deliberately doing all this to divert attention from the real issue... All this is a conspiracy of Mamata Banerjee and her nephew," Suvendu Adhikari told reporters on Sunday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to hit the streets in Kolkata on November 4 to protest against the ongoing SIR, and will be joined by party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
This announcement follows the Election Commission of India's (ECI) declaration that it will conduct the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (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 stated that the exercise will cover the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
The TMC has criticised the BJP over SIR, alleging that it had caused deaths due to fear among citizens in West Bengal.
In a post on X, the party said the latest casualty was Bimal Santra, a migrant worker from Nabagram village under Jamalpur in Purba Bardhaman district.
"Another precious life lost to @BJP4India's politics of fear and hatred," the TMC post read.
"In just a few days we have seen: 57-year-old Pradeep Kar of Panihati who died by suicide and blamed the NRC in his note. A 63-year-old man from Jitpur, Dinhata, Cooch Behar, who attempted to take his life, was terrified of harassment under the SIR process. A 95-year-old Khitish Majumder of Kotwali, Paschim Medinipur, living with his daughter in Ilambazar, Birbhum, who ended his life," the post added.
"This is the human cost of an exercise designed to terrorise and displace. SIR is an instrument of intimidation, driving our people to despair, forcing them to question their citizenship and their right to belong. @BJP4India, your hands are stained with blood," the TMC said, further adding that "the people of Bengal will seek justice, and we will make sure they answer for every life ruined by their politics of hate." (ANI)