Even Netaji would have been summoned for SIR hearing had he been alive: Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata, Jan 23 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state was so excessive that even Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose would have received a notice for a hearing had he been alive.

Speaking at a function marking the 129th birth anniversary of Netaji at Red Road in central Kolkata, the Chief Minister said that notices for hearings on claims and objections to the draft voters’ list were being issued indiscriminately.

“I doubt that even Netaji would have been summoned for a hearing had he been alive. Already, Netaji’s grand-nephew has been served with a hearing notice,” Banerjee said.

The Chief Minister also accused the Narendra Modi-led Union government of attempting to distort India’s history and diminish Netaji’s contributions.

“The Planning Commission was Netaji’s brainchild. The present Union government abolished the Planning Commission and replaced it with NITI Aayog. No one really knows or understands what this new entity is meant for,” she said.

Banerjee further criticised the Centre for not declaring Netaji’s birthday a national holiday. “This is very unfortunate, especially when the people of India do not even know the date of his demise,” she added.

Reiterating her opposition to the ongoing SIR in West Bengal, the Chief Minister called for statewide protests, claiming the exercise had caused severe hardship to ordinary people.

“Those responsible for the suffering caused by the revision exercise will have to face the consequences someday,” she said, without naming any individual or institution.

Banerjee also made serious allegations linking the revision process to deaths and suicides in the state. “So many people are dying. About 110 people have already died in West Bengal. Every day, three or four people are committing suicide out of fear. Why won’t a case be filed against the Election Commission of India? The Union government will have to take responsibility for this. I do not want to name any particular political party,” she said.

--IANS