KOLKATA — CPI(M) West Bengal State Secretary Md. Salim launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s latest protest, labeling the Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) sit-in against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls a "circus party" and a "show for the public."
Speaking to reporters in Devra, Salim dismissed the TMC supremo's dharna at Kolkata’s Esplanade as a politically motivated stunt designed to distract from her administration’s own failures. He pointed out a glaring irony in the protest’s signage, mocking the spelling of the word "Dharna" used by the TMC.
"If you look behind her, it doesn't say Dharna (protest); it’s written as Dhorona (don’t catch/hold). It’s just 'Don’t catch, don’t catch, don’t catch.' This isn't a protest; it's a circus party," Salim remarked with a touch of sarcasm.
The Battle Over SIR
The controversy stems from the Election Commission’s SIR exercise, which recently led to the deletion of over 6.1 million names from the West Bengal electoral rolls and placed another 6 million voters under adjudication. While Mamata Banerjee has branded the move a BJP-RSS conspiracy to disenfranchise minorities and the poor, Salim argues that the Chief Minister is merely "waking up late" to a crisis she helped create.
Key highlights of Salim's critique:
A "Political Distortion": Salim called the dharna a "distortion of politics and thought," suggesting that a serious crisis affecting 61 lakh citizens required an all-party meeting rather than a solo stage show.
Police Patronage: He alleged that while the police use force to stop Leftist protests, they act as "stage managers" for the TMC’s demonstrations. "Protests happen against the police, not with the police building the stage for you," he added.
The "Double Game": Salim accused both the TMC and BJP of using the SIR issue to polarize the state before the 2026 Assembly elections. He claimed that while TMC uses "weapons" to steal votes, the RSS uses the Election Commission.
Demand for Transparency
Despite his criticism of the TMC's methods, Salim and the Left Front have also been protesting the SIR discrepancies. Earlier this week, Salim led a night-long dharna outside the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office in Kolkata, demanding that the 60 lakh "adjudicated" names be cleared immediately to ensure no genuine voter is disenfranchised.
As the Election Commission’s full bench prepares to visit Bengal on March 9, the political climate in Kolkata remains electric, with the voter list becoming the primary battleground for the upcoming elections.
