West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday led a massive Trinamool Congress (TMC) rally in Kolkata to protest against the Special Intensive
Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, calling it an attempt at “silent invisible rigging.” Accompanied by her nephew and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, the chief minister walked a 3.8-km stretch from the statue of BR Ambedkar on Red Road to Jorasanko Thakur Bari, the ancestral home of poet Rabindranath Tagore. Thousands of party workers joined the march, waving TMC flags, chanting slogans, and carrying posters condemning the exercise. Dressed in her signature white saree and slippers, Banerjee led from the front, occasionally greeting onlookers gathered on balconies and pavements. Abhishek Banerjee followed closely behind, waving to supporters, alongside several senior TMC leaders and ministers. The TMC has accused the BJP-led central government and the Election Commission of using the voter roll revision process to delete names and influence upcoming elections. The party has also linked the issue to the recent deaths of three people in the state who reportedly took their own lives fearing the removal of their names from the voters’ list. The Election Commission has said phase two of the SIR will be carried out in 12 states and Union Territories, including West Bengal, between November and February. The exercise began on Tuesday and will continue until December 4, with draft electoral rolls to be released on December 9 and final rolls on February 7.
