EC extends SIR timeline for 6 states, but not Bengal; Mamata blasts Shah

As the Election Commission (EC) extended on Thursday (December 11) the timeline for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in six states and Union Territories (UTs), excluding West Bengal, its chief minister on the same day launched a scathing attack on the Modi government and particularly the country’s home minister, Amit Shah.

The EC, which decided to extend the timeline following requests from the respective states’ and UTs’ chief electoral officers, issued the revised schedule for SIR in the states of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, and the UT of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Also read: EC tells SC its deduplication software was ineffective; what does it mean for SIR?

The enumeration period for these states and UTs was to conclude on Thursday, and the draft electoral rolls were to be released on December 16.

According to the statement, the enumeration period for Tamil Nadu and Gujarat has been extended till December 14, and the draft electoral rolls will be published on December 19.

For Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the enumeration period has been extended till December 18. The draft electoral rolls will be published on December 23.

The enumeration period for Uttar Pradesh has been extended till December 26. The draft electoral rolls will be published on December 31. The schedule for Kerala was revised earlier. The enumeration period for the state will end on December 18, and the draft electoral roll will be published on December 23.

For Goa, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Rajasthan and Bengal, the enumeration period was set to end on Thursday. The draft electoral rolls will be published on December 16.

Poll officials satisfied with Bengal SIR work

Bengali daily Anandabazaar Patrika reported, citing sources in the office of Bengal’s chief electoral officer, that the core job of the SIR in the state is almost over. They also said additional time would not be taken since the state polls are not too far. They said the timeline was not extended for Bengal since the work was set to be finished within the deadline.

Also read: EC will announce poll dates right after final voter list to prevent legal challenge: Mamata

While the SIR-related work was going in full force in the state, its rulers were not amused. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday lashed out at the central government and the EC, accusing them of using the procedure to delete names of lakhs of lawful Bengali voters unlawfully, ahead of the next elections. She particularly tore into Shah, calling him “dangerous”.

Mamata thunders against 'deletion' of lawful voters

Addressing a rally in Krishnanagar in Nadia district bordering Bangladesh, the Trinamool Congress supremo accused the home minister of directly guiding attempts to omit as “1.5 crore names” from the voters' list, and threatened to begin an indefinite dharna if even a single eligible voter was excluded during the SIR exercise.

“The country's home minister is dangerous. His two eyes send a message of disaster — in one eye you see Duryodhan, and in the other, Dussashan (Kaurav brothers from Mahabharata),” Banerjee said, dramatically intensifying the rhetoric she has been using over the past week in her public meetings. She has been particularly aggressive against the home minister, the second in command in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

She also accused the BJP of attempting to weaponise the SIR exercise just months before the polls.

“They are so hungry for votes that they have launched the SIR now. If any eligible person's name is struck off, I will sit on a dharna till it's restored. There will be no detention camps in West Bengal,” the firebrand leader said.

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She also claimed that district magistrates in the state were being pressured to remove 1.5 crore names during the revision.

Possible in Bihar, not in Bengal: CM

“In Bihar, you may have managed it, but you cannot do this in Bengal,” she said, alleging that the draft rolls were being prepared “at the instruction of the BJP's IT cell”.

The chief minister cited reports that individuals who had submitted names of grandparents as part of their documentation would be called for hearings and risk deletion from the rolls.

On Wednesday (December 10), Shah had warned in Parliament that those “standing with infiltrators” would “vanish from Bengal”, prompting Banerjee to issue a sharp counter on Thursday.

Also read: Infiltration stopped in Assam but continues in Bengal with 'red carpet' treatment: Amit Shah

"There will be no NRC (National Register of Citizens) and no detention camps in West Bengal. We will not allow anyone to be driven out. And if someone is pushed out, we know how to bring them back,” she asserted.

EC hand-in-glove with BJP: TMC supremo

Attacking the EC, Banerjee alleged that officers aligned with the BJP were being sent from Delhi to supervise SIR hearings and influence district administrations.

"Some BJP-backed people are overseeing the work of DMs. Why should only BJP's complaints be acted upon? Does the Commission work only on their letters?" she asked.

The CM reiterated that she had not filled her own SIR enumeration form, declaring that she would do so only after every common citizen's form was accepted.

"A BLO (booth-level officer) came to my home office. But I have not taken any form myself. Do I have to prove my citizenship now to a party of rioters?" she remarked.

Also read: BJP’s illegal migrant claim in Bengal falters as SIR finds few dubious entries

Election Commission officials earlier clarified that as the serving chief minister, Banerjee is already enrolled as a "marked elector", a category that includes the Prime Minister, all chief ministers and other constitutional office-bearers, and does not legally require her to submit an enumeration form.

The final electoral rolls are scheduled to be published in mid-February.

(With Agency inputs)