Bengal is the only state where “logical discrepancy” is being used as a tool during electoral roll revision, something that has never happened before, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday, alleging that the process was curbing democratic rights.
Speaking at the inauguration of the 49th International Kolkata Book Fair in Salt Lake, Mamata accused the Election Commission of overreach. Earlier, people chose who would be in power, but now the Election Commission is doing that job, she said.
“This is a curbing of the democratic rights of the people, and this cannot happen. Everyone should protest,” the chief minister said.
Mamata used the marquee event to highlight the difficulties faced by voters during the ongoing SIR. “Enjoy the fair peacefully. Everyone has the right to talk, to discuss. But please remember the SIR is going on, and 110 people have died. People are standing in queues for five to six hours. We must understand the harassment people are facing,” she said.
The chief minister cited multiple examples of “discrepancies” flagged by officials. One such issue, she said, involved differences in surnames written in English and Bengali. “I am Mamata Banerjee, but in Bengali I write Mamata Bandyopadhyay. Byaas, baad (that’s it, rejected). Like Rabindranath Tagore and Rabindranath Thakur,” she said.
She added: “Someone writes Chatterjee in English and Chattopadhyay in Bengali, or Mukherjee in English and Mukhopadhyay in Bengali. Khub dosh hoye geche (It’s become a tremendous fault).”
The Telegraph has reported how thousands of voters attending hearings were being harassed despite a Supreme Court order aimed at addressing several problem areas in the process.
Mamata also referred to notices sent to economist Amartya Sen and poet Joy Goswami. “Er thekey lojjar aar ki hotey parey (What can be more shameful)?” she said.
The chief minister said some voters were being asked how a parent could have five children. “Now it is ‘hum do, humhare do’. Pehle toh nahi tha (This wasn’t there earlier),” she said, prompting rapturous applause across the makeshift auditorium.
She also spoke of demands for parental documents. “If they ask me to bring certificates from my parents, I won’t because I don’t have them. Where will I get them? Amra toh home delivery (We were delivered at home),” she said.
Mamata said former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had once told her that December 25 was not his birthday. “I had the courtesy of not asking him when it was. But there are many like this,” she said. “If I speak at great length, the Election Commission will catch hold of me and say I am disqualified.”
Mamata said she had written nine books for this year’s fair, one of which focuses on the SIR. “I cannot remain quiet when my neighbour’s house is on fire. If my neighbours are unhappy, I cannot be happy,” she said.
Later, the chief minister announced a grant of ₹10 crore from the state government to the fair organisers to set up a “Boi Tirtha” ahead of the fair’s 50th anniversary next year.
Sharing the dais with Mamata were Argentine ambassador to India Mariano Caucino, members of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild and others.
Sudhanshu Sekhar Dey, president of the Guild, said discussions would be held to clarify the nature of the proposed project, likely a building or museum chronicling the history of the book fair.