Kolkata, March 6: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in the state, voicing strong opposition to what she described as undemocratic practices. The protest was held at Dharmatala, where Banerjee stood in solidarity with citizens who she claimed were being unfairly affected by the SIR.

On the social media platform X, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) accused the BJP of manipulating the democratic process through "silent invisible rigging." The TMC post read,"Smt. @MamataOfficial has taken her place at the dharna mancha in Dharmatala, standing shoulder to shoulder with the people whose voices @BJP4India and its puppet @ECISVEEP are desperate to erase. Bengal will answer the arrogance and despotism of those who seek to trample on the rights and dignity of its citizens. What they got instead was fierce, unyielding defiance from the people who refuse to be silenced or have their democracy stolen."

Banerjee, who had criticized the SIR process on February 4, described the procedure as deeply flawed, claiming that it was wrongly marking living individuals as deceased. She recounted her meeting with victims of the process at Banga Bhawan in Delhi, where families recounted heartbreaking stories of their loved ones being falsely listed as dead, while citizens who were alive were erased from the electoral rolls.

"In a democracy, to inflict such suffering on the people is not just tragic; it is unconscionable,"Banerjee said, calling the exercise "reckless and inhumane," accusing it of specifically targeting the people of Bengal, including senior citizens, migrant workers, and daily wage earners. She argued that the process had thrown many lives into chaos, particularly those of vulnerable groups.

A significant part of Banerjee's protest focused on the deployment of an unusually high number of micro-observers in West Bengal. She expressed alarm over the alleged violation of the Representation of the People Act, stating that the deployment of micro-observers was done without any statutory authority and could lead to severe consequences for the state’s democratic processes.

Earlier, Banerjee had alleged that she was humiliated by the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, during their meeting on Monday. According to sources within the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Chief Election Commissioner responded by reassuring Banerjee and the TMC delegation that the law would prevail throughout the SIR process and that any attempts to disrupt the process would be dealt with strictly according to the rules.

The controversy surrounding the SIR process continues to escalate, with Banerjee and her party calling for a reassessment of the entire procedure.