New Delhi, 01 : BJP leader Dilip Ghosh on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress (TMC), accusing it of spreading misinformation about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and attempting to protect Bangladeshi immigrants to safeguard its vote bank.
Speaking to the media, Ghosh said that TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee had earlier criticised the SIR process and even urged the Election Commission (EC) to leave the country, but has now shifted his position multiple times. He claimed that after its poor performance in Bihar, the TMC is now trying to provoke unrest in West Bengal.
“Everyone will take part in the SIR process, but TMC is trying to shield Bangladeshi immigrants because removing them from the voter list would weaken their electoral chances,” Ghosh alleged.
The former BJP state president further accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party of deliberately spreading rumours to discredit the EC’s SIR exercise. “They are attempting to malign a routine procedure by misleading the public. However, people are aware and will not fall for these tactics,” he added.
Earlier, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had criticised the BJP and the Election Commission following the suicide of a 57-year-old man in North 24-Parganas, reportedly due to anxiety over the SIR process.
The Election Commission, meanwhile, recently announced the second phase of the SIR in 12 states and union territories. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar stated that the first phase in Bihar had been completed smoothly, without a single appeal.
The BJP has continued to defend the SIR exercise as a necessary step to ensure transparency in the electoral rolls, while TMC leaders have labelled it a politically motivated move.