Trinamool Congress will hold a protest sit-in on Friday at Metro Channel in Dharmatala, Kolkata, against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list. The demonstration will be led by party chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, with senior leaders and workers expected to attend. The protest follows controversy over the state's final voters' list, which has identified more than 60 lakh voters as 'pending' or 'under adjudication' and removed the names of about 5.46 lakh voters.
The party claims that at least eight people have died in West Bengal by Wednesday due to panic and anxiety after the publication of the list. One more person is currently undergoing treatment in the hospital. The Election Commission has not confirmed any link between the deaths and the revision process.
Deaths reported after publication of voters' list
On Tuesday night, police recovered the hanging body of Rafiq Ali Gazi from Magrahat West in South 24 Parganas. According to local reports, his name had been marked as 'pending' in the final voters' list. On the same night, Krishna Pal, a resident of Debra in West Midnapore whose name was on the 'under adjudication' list, died of a heart attack.
On Wednesday, Trinamool Congress claimed that Priyanka Chattopadhyay (48), a resident of Bhangar's Babubazar area in South 24 Parganas, also died. The party said her name had appeared in the 'deleted' list of the final voter roll.
Following Rafiq Ali Gazi's death, TMC leaders and workers organised a protest march in Magrahat under the leadership of local party leaders. After the autopsy, demonstrators blocked the Sirakol-Usti, Usti-Hatuganj, and Usti-Dostipur roads at Usti More around 2 PM by placing the body on the road.
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Family members of the deceased also filed a complaint at the police station against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal.
Trinamool leaders allege that marking millions of voters as 'under adjudication' has created widespread fear among ordinary citizens.
Political reactions and protests
The protest programme at Metro Channel was announced earlier by Trinamool's All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee. Party leaders said the stage for the dharna is being prepared in front of the Hair Street police outpost. Trinamool also released promotional videos describing the protest as a campaign to protect voting rights.
"Mamata Banerjee has always taken to the streets with people in people's interest. BJP leaders sit in AC rooms. When Bengalis' names are being removed from voter lists, when people are dying, only Mamata protests," said TMC spokesperson Arup Chakraborty.
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Responding to the protest, BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said, "In a democracy, any person can sit in a dharna. But what does his going to the Supreme Court or sitting in a dharna mean? He wants to create pressure on constitutional institutions. This is a matter for the Election Commission to consider."
Meanwhile, Left parties also held a protest rally near the Chief Electoral Officer's office on Wednesday. Leaders, including Biman Basu and Mohammad Salim, demanded that no voter should remain under pending verification.
Salim said, "The Election Commission has become a torture commission. According to RSS-BJP's plan, the Election Commission is torturing people before elections. Not a single pending case can be kept; no one can be made a D-voter."
The controversy over the revised voter list continues to trigger political reactions across the state.
