Abhishek Banerjee flays PM Modi’s ‘drama’ remark; seeks accountability on Bengal SIR deaths

Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday delivered a sharp, impassioned rebuke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks urging the Opposition to prioritise performance over “drama” in Parliament, arguing that the government was attempting to sidestep responsibility for the reported deaths of 40 people in West Bengal amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Speaking after inaugurating the ‘Sebaashray 2’ health camp in Maheshtala, South 24-Parganas, Banerjee declared that there was nothing theatrical about demanding a debate on an issue as grave as the SIR.
“What the Opposition seeks is a discussion on the SIR. Is that drama? If raising the people’s voice is drama, then the people themselves will answer this government in the next election,” he said.

He alleged that around 40 people — including booth level officers — had lost their lives because the SIR was launched in Bengal without proper consultation or preparedness. He said BLOs had directly blamed the Election Commission of India for the fatalities, asking, “Where is the government’s accountability?”

In a sweeping critique of the Centre’s track record, Banerjee reminded reporters of the long queues and chaos of demonetisation a decade ago — an exercise he said failed to curb the flow of black money. He questioned where accountability lay when blasts rocked the national capital or when terrorists managed to slip across India’s borders.

“They want to enjoy the power of accountability without ever answering to the people,” he alleged.

Banerjee stressed that the Opposition wanted Parliament to function normally, but wondered aloud why the government appeared so defensive even after its electoral victory in Bihar. Modi’s comments ahead of the Winter Session — accusing the Opposition of treating Parliament as a warm-up arena for elections or a space to vent after defeat — had no bearing on the government’s constitutional obligation, he argued.

“Winning a few states doesn’t free the government from responsibility,” Banerjee said, warning that the same electorate could just as easily remove it from office.

The TMC leader reiterated that the Opposition was not against the SIR itself, but against the hasty and chaotic manner in which it was being implemented. He claimed that booth-level officers had received inadequate training, technical glitches in the SIR app remained unresolved, and voter rolls were not properly digitised for smooth processing.

“When we ask for a discussion on these failures, the Prime Minister calls it drama,” he said, adding that such dismissiveness only underscored the government’s unwillingness to face the people’s questions.

With IANS inputs