In black, Mamata meets CEC with ‘SIR-affected’ families, seeks halt to roll revision

Wearing black shawls as a mark of protest, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar along with families allegedly affected by the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) of electoral rolls in poll-bound West Bengal.

The meeting followed the Election Commission granting time to Banerjee last week after she demanded an immediate halt to the ongoing revision exercise.

Banerjee, who arrived in the national capital on Sunday, was accompanied by Trinamool Congress MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Kalyan Banerjee, the latter also being an advocate.

Addressing reporters earlier in the day, Banerjee alleged that people from West Bengal had come to Delhi to raise their grievances before the Election Commission but were being “threatened”. She also questioned the heavy police deployment outside Banga Bhawan, the state’s official residence in the capital.

According to party sources, around 50 families affected by the SIR exercise were brought to Delhi. TMC leaders said that 12 representatives who met the Election Commission’s top brass belonged to families impacted by the revision process.

They claimed the group included individuals who were allegedly wrongly declared dead in electoral records and relatives of persons who purportedly died “due to SIR”, a claim the Election Commission has not commented on.

Party sources said Banerjee and accompanying leaders wore black attire as a symbolic protest against the electoral roll revision, with Abhishek Banerjee donning a black sweater during the meeting.

The Trinamool Congress has been alleging that the SIR exercise in West Bengal is flawed and could lead to large-scale exclusion of genuine voters ahead of the Assembly elections. The Election Commission has maintained that the revision process is being carried out in accordance with established rules and procedures.