Mamata Banerjee Urges Bengal Women to ‘Fight Back’ Amid SIR Row, Warns Centre of Massive Dharna

Mamata Banerjee's 'Fight Back' Message and Dharna Warning.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) have sharply escalated their opposition to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, arguing that the exercise is not a routine verification drive but a politically motivated attempt by the BJP-led Central government, executed through the Election Commission of India (ECI), to carry out what she calls “Votebandi”—a systematic removal of genuine voters, much like the “Notebandi” of demonetization.

According to Mamata, the requirement to produce old documents, including links to voter lists from as far back as 2002, disproportionately threatens the voting rights of minorities, SC/ST communities, sex workers, migrants, and married women whose names or surnames may no longer match old records, making them vulnerable to disenfranchisement.

In her speeches, she has delivered a strong “fight back” message to Bengal’s women, urging them not to panic but to actively resist what she terms a “super emergency” aimed at curbing democratic rights, assuring them that the government will stand by every citizen to ensure that no eligible voter is left out.

She has emphasized that she herself will not fill out her SIR form until every single resident of Bengal has done so, symbolically positioning herself as the protector of ordinary people against bureaucratic and political intimidation. Further intensifying her stance, Mamata has issued a stern warning to the Centre, declaring that if even one legitimate voter’s name is removed from the electoral rolls, she and her party are prepared to stage a massive, indefinite dharna outside the ECI headquarters in New Delhi, reminding the nation of her history of launching high-impact protests—including previous sit-ins against the alleged withholding of central funds for MGNREGA and PM Awas Yojana—and signalling her readiness for a major confrontation to safeguard the fundamental right to vote in West Bengal.