Dissolution of Lok Sabha first step towards genuine SIR: TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee

Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on 13 August, Wednesday, said immediate dissolution of the Lok Sabha should be the first step towards conducting a genuine special intensive revision (SIR) anywhere in the country — and indeed, everywhere in the country if the Election Commission’s claims are verifiable.

This move, he also suggested, should be initiated by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre itself, if it wishes to claim the ‘high moral ground’.

In a post on X, the TMC leader also said that the SIR should be implemented across the country and not selectively in the poll-bound states.

"The EC (Election Commission) has stated that the voter lists across various states on the basis of which the general elections were held barely a year ago in 2024 are faulty and riddled with irregularities," Banerjee said.

"If that is indeed the case, and if the GoI (Government of India) agrees with the EC's assessment, then the first step towards conducting a genuine SIR and standing on moral high ground is the immediate dissolution of Lok Sabha," he said, and added, "If one truly supports the idea of SIR, then as per the EC's own statement — the people of this country have been betrayed," he said.

Banerjee suggested that if this was indeed the case, the Lok Sabha should be dissolved, the SIR should be conducted across the country and general elections should be held.

"Aap chronology samajh lijiye (understand the chronology):" he said, mocking an oft-repeated statement made by prime minister Narendra Modi in the past, and demanded a three-point resolution:

“1. Dissolve the House

“2. Conduct SIR across the country

“3. Go for elections and face the people."

The INDIA bloc parties have been protesting against the ongoing the SIR exercise in Bihar, calling it 'vote chori' (vote theft), and an exercise that would lead to the disenfranchisement of many.

The opposition parties have been pressing for a debate on the issue in Parliament. They also attempted a march to the EC office on 11 August, Monday, but were stopped midway and detained by the police for several hours.

The Congress on Wednesday announced that Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, along with the INDIA bloc leaders in Bihar, would embark on a 'Vote Adhikar Yatra' across the state from 17 August.

Meanwhile, both RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and the LoP had revelations to offer from the new draft voter lists — one a tale of duplicate voter IDs and the other a mess of living citizens declared ‘deceased’ (or just erased without offer of any cause).

Bihar will face assembly polls later this year.

With PTI inputs