If TMC is so confident of winning Assembly polls, why are they crying over SIR: BJP's Priyanka Tibrewal slams Abhishek Banerjee

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], January 1 (ANI): After Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of facilitating "vote theft," BJP leader Priyanka Tibrewal alleged that Bangladeshi infiltrators had been given voter ID card, Aadhaar card and were made voters of the TMC.

She asked if TMC was so confident of winning the Assembly polls, then why are they making hue and cry over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) activity.




Speaking to ANI, Priyanka Tibrewal said, "They could not stop the SIR, so now they are trying to stop the hearing process. Camps are being burnt. EC is being attacked. They are forcing the EC to take a tough stand. I wish to ask if anyone is a patriot, then how can he challenge the removal of anti-national forces who have entered the country illegally. The Bangladeshi infiltrators had been given voter ID card, Aadhaar card and were made voters."

She further said that there have been no deaths due to SIR.

"There have been no suicides over SIR. In our country, there are so many deaths every day. They are saying that everyone is dying due to SIR. The suicides can also be murders. CM said there would be more "Khela Hobe". After 2021 election, there were 300 murders of BJP workers. Now you want to kill 600 workers," she said.

Priyanka Tibrewal further said that if TMC is so confident that they would win the polls, then why are they making a hue and cry?

"When they are so confident that they will win in polls, then why are they crying over the SIR activity. They should go to the courts if they have so many objections. Just 5 days ago, Abhishek Banerjee has returned from the US. Most of the infiltrators have left the borders during SIR, Why didn't CM ask then who is running away?

Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Election Commission over SIR in Bengal and said that the BJP was defeated in the assembly and Lok Sabha polls in the state and the same result will be repeated in 2026 assembly polls.

Talking to the media after meeting the Election Commission, Banerjee accused the BJP of misusing institutions."People of Bengal are made to build differently. We are not built like that; we will not bow down before you. Let the BJP put their entire mind and use all the agencies and whatever they have at their disposal. Still, the people of Bengal will win the state, lock, stock, and barrel, and defeat the BJP. They have fallen flat on their faces in 2012, 2021, 2024, and it will happen again in 2026. We will bow before the power of the people, not the people in power," he said.

Banerjee alleged that the poll panel failed to answer most of party's questions.

"They think that by raising their voice and speaking aggressively, everyone will be silenced. When we started speaking, he began losing his temper. He tried to stop some of us and pointed fingers at me. I then stated that you are a nominated official, but I am an elected representative. You are answerable to your masters, but I am answerable to the masses who elected me, for whom we have come here to ensure that no legitimate voter is deleted from the list... If he has the courage, let him release the footage. I am standing very close to the ECI office. Gyanesh Kumar must be hearing what I am saying to the media right now," he said.

"If he has the courage, he should come down, face the media, and rebut every point I am making, rather than making selective leaks after 8 pm. What is stopping him? Does he think the people of Bengal are his subservient? Apart from 2-3 questions, he has failed. Does he think the people of Bengal, and we MPs, ministers, and MLAs elected by the people, are bonded labourers or slaves?" he asked.

Bengal will face assembly polls in the first half of next year.

A Trinamool Congress delegation met the Election Commission on Wednesday and discussed about 10 issues, including the SIR being held in West Bengal.

Banerjee told the media that the meeting lasted two and a half hours. He said the poll panel had not provided answers when the Trinamool Congress delegation met it last month.

He alleged that the poll panel had indulged in "selective leak" last time after meeting the party delegation and had not given a "single precise answer" to any of the issues raised.

"We discussed eight to ten issues. The meeting started at 12 noon and lasted two and a half hours. Last time, a month ago, on November 28, a delegation of 10 people from our party came here. We asked the Election Commission five questions, but we didn't receive a single precise answer to any of them," the MP said.

"That same night, the Election Commission selectively leaked information to some journalists, claiming that they had answered every question. Immediately afterwards, I tweeted that the Trinamool Congress has digital evidence and that the Election Commission did not provide a single answer to any of our questions last time... This time, except for two or three points, we didn't get any clarity on anything. When I ask them about the SIR, they shift the topic to citizenship. There was no concrete answer to anything," he added.

Over 58.2 lakh names were deleted during the enumeration period of the SIR exercise in the state. The ECI had published the draft voter list for West Bengal on December 16.
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