Abhishek Banerjee on Monday told an internal meeting, conducted virtually and attended by well over 20,000 from the Trinamool Congress's rank and file, that any laxity by the leaders in what remained of the special intensive revision (SIR) process in poll-bound Bengal wouldn't be tolerated.
Trinamool national general secretary said the election was no longer a three-month assignment, starting with the notification, but a six-month task that included the SIR. He asked MLAs to work in multiple districts over the next nine days to keep a vigil on the SIR of the electoral roll.
A comprehensive report on the SIR process will be submitted to Trinamool chairperson Mamata Banerjee by Abhishek on December 6.
"We are fighting this legally as well, right up there in the Supreme Court, Calcutta High Court, and we will also fight in the Parliament. You have to fight in the fields, in the streets, in the court of the people... to defeat the anti-Bengal BJP's conspiracy to disenfranchise the people," Abhishek was quoted as saying.
A team of 10 MPs will go to chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and submit the documentary evidence of 35 people from Bengal alone who have died so far, allegedly on account of the SIR, and demand an apology.
"The unplanned, exclusionary and opaque SIR is causing extreme torture on the helpless masses. Those dying have directly blamed the Election Commission. If lives are lost because of administrative negligence, why can an FIR not be lodged against the chief election commissioner?" he was further quoted as saying in the meeting.
The 10 MPs will not only hand Kumar a long list of alleged mistakes but also the specific problems faced by the common people in the chaotic process. The 10 MPs are Satabdi Roy (Birbhum), Sudip Bandyopadhyay (Kolkata Uttar), Kalyan Banerjee (Sreerampur), Mahua Moitra (Krishnanagar), Sajda Ahmed (Uluberia) and Rajya Sabha members Derek O'Brien, Dola Sen, Prakash Chik Baraik, Mamatabala Thakur and Saket Gokhale.
"He (Abhishek) warned everyone, expressed dissatisfaction with the work of BLA-IIs (booth-level agents) in many places, and said they were not taking the necessary steps to have enumeration forms filled out or submitted," said a Trinamool insider, adding that Abhishek had spoken to his aunt and chief minister Mamata Banerjee before the meeting, and had a detailed discussion with senior leaders Firhad Hakim and Aroop Biswas.
"He said the party would give tickets for the elections ahead based on the performance at this crucial stage," said the insider.
Abhishek, according to a senior, was particularly displeased with the work of Trinamool leaders, who were asked to monitor the SIR, so far in urban Assembly seats such as Ballygunge, Bongaon Dakshin, Beleghata, Entally, Madhyamgram, Kolkata Port, Kashipur-Belgachhia, and Chowrangee. He ordered an organisational meeting of Kolkata Uttar on Tuesday. He also issued warnings for the districts of East Midnapore and Cooch Behar.
"However, he is satisfied with the work in Dhanekhali, Haripal, Singur, Karandighi, Tarakeswar, Bali, Goalpokhar, Raghunathganj, Chakulia, and Raiganj," the senior said. "But, overall, he thanked the block and booth-level workers involved in the work, thanking them for the enthusiasm and sincerity with which they have been conducting SIR camps.