Mamata Banerjee questions Census fairness, likens it to controversial voter list revision
Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday expressed doubts over the ongoing Census exercise in West Bengal, asking whether it could turn out to be another Special Intensive Revision (SIR) — a voter list cleanup that previously led to the deletion of over 90 lakh names in the state.
“Census has been started. But no political party has been informed. At least the Trinamool Congress was not informed. Nobody knows whose name will be deleted. Is it going to be another SIR? Who knows!!” Ms. Banerjee said during a livestream on Facebook.
The SIR referred to by the TMC chief is a special revision of electoral rolls that took place in West Bengal, during which a large number of names were removed. The exercise sparked a major political controversy, with the TMC accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of targeting Muslims and attempting to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) through the backdoor. Special appellate tribunals and judicial panels are still reviewing thousands of appeals and applications stemming from those exclusions.
Meanwhile, the self-enumeration process for Census 2027 has begun in West Bengal, allowing households to register their details online before census officials start door-to-door visits. The online self-enumeration window for the first phase is open until August 15.
Ms. Banerjee called for a mass movement to counter what she described as “BJP’s anarchy” and urged all political parties to unite. “Those who are thinking that they can fight it alone are making the biggest mistake,” she said.
She also alleged that the West Bengal government is not granting permission for her party’s political events or gatherings, preventing her from taking to the streets. She claimed that the BJP has “planfully frozen” all the party’s bank accounts.
The TMC leader further accused the BJP of misusing the police to threaten party legislators. “They have turned Sonar Bangla into a prison. Police are threatening all the MLAs and MPs to follow what the BJP is saying. Is this the police’s job to do? Most of these BJP leaders neither understand politics nor the culture of Bengal. Sometimes, silence is good. But they don’t know what happens when the river flows by breaking all the barriers,” she said.
Ms. Banerjee also criticised the BJP for what she said was insulting freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. “Some people in the BJP who do not know the politics, the culture, are insulting the patriot Subhash Chandra Bose. The slogan Jai Hind is heard on everyone’s lips. Netaji and Rabindranath Tagore are out of the country. Many are making fun of them. We are ashamed to hear their language. Some are calling him a traitor. Some are playing the dirty game of politics,” she said.
Urging the younger generation to stay vigilant, she said, “I will tell the young generation to look a little. Will Bengal be lost from Bengal? Before coming to power, the BJP said that it would open the file. Where did all that go? Netaji will be disrespected in his place.”
The TMC supremo asserted that she will return with double strength each time the BJP tries to stop her. “It is my right to fight for the people. I don’t care about the chair. BJP wants to control both the government and the opposition. People will not spare it. If they have toxic traits in their heads, we have the message of harmony,” she added.
