Sagar Island: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she would move court against what she described as the “inhumane” conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, alleging that the exercise had caused fear, harassment and even deaths.

Addressing a public meeting on Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district, Banerjee claimed that the process had led to the deaths and hospitalisation of several people. “We are moving court tomorrow against the inhumane treatment and the death of so many people due to the SIR,” she said.

The chief minister added that she could also approach the Supreme Court. “If allowed, I will also move the Supreme Court and plead as a common person against this inhumane exercise. I am also a trained lawyer,” she said.

Banerjee did not clarify whether the petition would be filed by her personally, by the state government, or by the Trinamool Congress.

She alleged that names were being “arbitrarily struck off” the electoral rolls without valid reasons, turning a routine administrative exercise into a source of fear ahead of the assembly elections. According to her, elderly citizens and terminally ill people were being forced to stand in long queues to prove their eligibility as voters.

“How would BJP leaders feel if someone made their old parents stand in line to prove their identity?” she asked, claiming that “since the SIR began, so many people have died due to fear, and several others are in hospital”.

The chief minister also targeted the BJP over what she described as discrimination against Bengali-speaking migrant workers in BJP-ruled states. “I dare them to kill me, but I will not stop speaking in my mother tongue,” she said, questioning whether speaking Bengali had become a crime in the country.

Accusing the BJP of using inducements before elections and repression afterwards, Banerjee said, “They will give Rs 10,000 before elections and use the bulldozer once it’s over.”

“You can torture as much as you want, but it won’t yield any results,” she added.

(PTI)