New Delhi, Feb 10 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government, over its resistance to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive in West Bengal and accused it of "manufacturing a false narrative" regarding the voter verification process, which serves the broader public and national interest.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, Lok Sabha member Sambit Patra cited extensively from the Chief Justice of India’s observations on SIR to sharpen the attack on the Mamata dispensation and stated that this was a major setback for the Trinamool Congress and its chief.
Patra said that earlier the Congress party and now the Trinamool tried to sway the electorate with false narratives and claims like “SIR is illegal and a political tool to benefit the ruling BJP”, and added that their hollow claims were exposed and demolished by the Apex Court during the hearing of Mamata Banerjee's plea in the Supreme Court on Monday.
“Mamata Banerjee herself moved the Supreme Court as a petitioner, arguing against the SIR drive and appealed to the Apex Court to rescind the entire exercise. She claimed that the government appointments for SIR were illegal and demanded revocation of the entire exercise, but all her claims were turned down,” Patra said.
Describing the SC’s observations as a big blow to the Mamata government, Patra quoted from CJI’s observations, “Whatever orders and clarification are required, we will issue, but we will not allow any impediment in SIR. This must be understood by all states.”
He further said that the West Bengal government protested over the appointment of micro-observers, refusing to source them from the state government's workforce for the SIR drive, but after a rap from the court, the administration is facilitating the same.
After SC’s observations, about 8,505 Group-B officers are set to report to the District Magistrate and join duty by this evening, he pointed out.
The BJP MP also told the media that the Election Commission has been ‘empowered’ by the Apex Court to act against any official, if found to be working under any political influence.
Patra, further pointing to the show-cause notice to West Bengal DGP, called it a direct indictment of the Chief Minister.
“Bengal DGP has been show-caused and asked to submit a personal affidavit over his incompetence and inability to stop violence. This is an indictment of none other than the Chief Minister herself as the DGP works under her watch,” he remarked.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor