Will back any party standing against SIR: Abhishek
national general secretary
said on Friday that TMC will stand by any party that will support them on the SIR issue and against the deprivation of Bengal.
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"If someone walks one step for us, we will also walk one step for them. Our priority is Bengal. In the current scenario, we will stand by those political parties which will stand by us on SIR and Bengal's deprivation. That can be Congress, DMK, Shiv Sena or Samajwadi Party. We don't have any ego. We're fighting the autocratic BJP together," said Banerjee told reporters at the Kolkata airport.
"Those who say 'Yes SIR' and have sold an institution like ECI, we are saying 'No SIR'," he added.
The multiparty INDIA bloc, formed ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, had largely reverted to state-specific agendas following the elections. Congress was targeting BJP mostly independently, without coordinating with other bloc members. But the SIR issue seems to have brought parties within the bloc on common ground again, with Congress's Rahul Gandhi hosting a dinner on Thursday where opposition bloc members discussed their strategy against SIR.
Asked about discussions at the dinner, Banerjee said, "All parties of the INDIA bloc unanimously condemned the way ECI is functioning and acting on the directions of BJP. "
Bengal Congress chief Subhankar Sarkar said, "If it is a question of securing the interests of Bengal and protecting Bengalis, the entire opposition will stay together. BJP is trying to create a civil war by dividing people on linguistic lines and this is not happening in Bengal alone."
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"Congress and Trinamool have protested against SIR and attacks on Bengali migrant workers in other states. Congress is ready to unite forces against BJP and take it to the streets of Bengal," he said, clarifying however that his comments "should not be construed as a prologue to any equation before the polls".
Banerjee said, "SIR is a tool to disenfranchise the poor", adding that a "section of the Commission" was functioning under BJP influence.
"If even one Bengali's name is excluded, we will gherao the Election Commission with one lakh people," he warned, while questioning the pace at which the revision process was being conducted.
He said that the last SIR was done in 2002 and the updated list was published in 2004, adding, "Now they want to finish it in one or two months. If current voter list is faulty, then the last election was invalid, and so are positions of PM and home minister."
(With inputs from Rohit Khanna)
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