'Big win for CM': Trinamool Congress' X post of rejoice

The All India Trinamool Congress on Wednesday claimed a major victory for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee following the hearing on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in the Supreme Court of India.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the party said, "BIG WIN for Hon’ble Chief Minister Smt. @MamataOfficial in the Hon'ble Supreme Court. After her plea, the Hon'ble Supreme Court issued notice to the @ECISVEEP in the SIR matter, and directed EC officials to act with sensitivity. The Court also made it clear that Micro Observers may not be required.Inside the Supreme Court, Mamata Banerjee wore the lawyer’s coat, argued with facts, and forced accountability."

As per the Supreme Court website, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, was listed to hear petitions filed by CM Mamata Banerjee, Mostari Banu, and Trinamool Congress MPs Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen.

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CM flags ‘logical discrepancies’ and alleged deletions

During the hearing, the advocate appearing for CM Mamata Banerjee told the court that a large number of cases under the “logical discrepancy” category involved minor issues such as spelling variations. The counsel said that nearly 75 lakh cases relate to differences like Banerjee and Bandopadhyay, Sharma and Sarma, Roy and Ray, for which notices have been issued.

Addressing the court directly, CM Banerjee said that everyday life events were being wrongly flagged as discrepancies. Under the heading ‘Marriage, migration flagged as discrepancies,’ she told the Supreme Court that when a woman takes her husband’s surname after marriage or moves to her in-laws’ home, it is being marked as a discrepancy. She added that people who migrate for work are also being categorised under discrepancy mapping, leading to deletions from the voter list.

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The Chief Minister argued that the SIR exercise was being misused. She said the process was acting as a tool for mass deletions instead of genuine verification. “The logical discrepancy cases should be cleared as it is,” she told the court. She also questioned why West Bengal was being singled out, asking why similar scrutiny was not being applied to Assam or other northeastern states.

CM Mamata Banerjee also criticised the Election Commission of India during the hearing, referring to it as the "WhatsApp Commission". She alleged that the commission was behind large-scale deletions of voter names and said Bengal was being unfairly targeted under the current SIR process.

All parties involved in the case have been served notices, and the next hearing has been scheduled for Monday.