Pro-TMC platform alleges BJP misusing SIR to disenfranchise poor citizens in Bengal

Kolkata, Nov 2 (PTI) A pro-TMC platform of civil society members on Sunday alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal was being misused by the BJP-led central government to disenfranchise poor citizens.

The platform, 'Desh Banchao Gana Manch', comprising former labour minister Purnendu Basu, journalist Rantidev Sengupta, and fringe Bengali sub-regional outfit Jatiyo Bangla Sammelan, vowed to continue street protests and take legal recourse if required.

Briefing reporters at the Press Club, Basu said while illegal entrants without citizenship rights should be barred from electoral rolls, the SIR exercise is being used to alter the voter list "to suit political interests through coercive and unfair means." "Our platform, 'Desh Banchao Gana Manch' (Forum to save the country), will hit the streets if required and take legal steps if needed. This should be kept in mind by RSS-BJP," he said.

Describing SIR as part of a "political and communal gameplan by the BJP", Sengupta said, "While BJP leaders cites crores of illegal migrants in the state, the official figures put the number of Rohingyas in Bengal at just 102." He alleged that though BJP targets "Muslim and Rohingya infiltrators," Hindus are suffering the most under the SIR exercise.

"From central statistics it is clear that among the 40,000 Rohingyas in the country, only 102 are in the state," he added. PTI SUS MNB