A former firebrand Left leader, now in the Congress, issued a special intensive revision (SIR) warning for Bengal while welcoming another former Left leader to the Grand Old Party at the Rammohan Mancha in north Calcutta on Monday evening.

Kanhaiya Kumar hailed economist and social activist Prasenjit Bose who joined the Congress in the presence of party leaders, including Bengal minder Ghulam Ahmad Mir and state chief Subhankar Sarkar, and former Left leaders Syed Naseer Hussain and Ali Imran 'Victor' Ramz.

Kanhaiya said the SIR in Bihar was sanyog (coincidence), while its coming to Bengal with all its problems was the BJP’s prayog (project).

“Bengal’s history, politics, its situation cannot be ignored in national politics.... You might think that SIR has come for Bihar, that is a sanyog. The SIR will come to Bengal, it is being done for Bengal, that is the BJP’s prayog, understand that,” said the former JNU student leader at Bose’s joining event.

“The BJP is desperate to wrest Bengal because they know the people are tired of Didi (Mamata Banerjee). Most people here who voted for her last time did so because they did not want Modi here...,” added Kanhaiya. “I generally don’t speak against anybody other than the RSS-BJP. Not Didi, not Nitish (Kumar), not (N. Chandrababu) Naidu... because we should fight only those who wield the remote control.... But Bengal’s people now thoroughly understand that Didi sey hoga nahi aur Modi chaleyga nahi (Mamata is incapable and Narendra Modi cannot stay).... This fight to the finish is between the bechneywaley (sellers) and the bachaneywaley (saviours)of this nation.”

Kanhaiya remained unflinching on the dangers of SIR.

“They (the saffron camp) know if the entire nation has to be ruled, votes everywhere are to be sought in the name of Bengal — not unlike what has happened with the excuse of Kashmir. The whole hobgoblin of infiltrators, the demographic shift... the entire smoke and mirrors exercise being conducted nationally with the excuse of Bangladeshis is being done with the core objective of Bengal,” he said, questioning the role of the allegedly compromised Election Commission.

“They are doing everything in their power to misuse the Bangladeshi infiltrator excuse to infiltrate Bengal themselves...,” added Kanhaiya. “I am warning you, all SIR problems will actually begin in Bengal....”

Once a fiercely anti-Congress leader in the CPM, Bose, 51, was also a JNU student leader. He was a part of the CPM till 2012, when differences over supporting the candidature of Pranab Mukherjee as the President forced a parting of ways. He has led movements against the citizenship matrix of the Modi regime and land acquisition for the Deocha-Pachami coal mine project by the Mamata government.

Bose attributed his decision to join the Congress to the seriousness of the SIR threat and the leadership of Rahul Gandhi in matters relevant to people.

“It is essential to free our state and society from the stranglehold of communal-fascist forces like the RSS-BJP.... The condition of my home state deeply pains me. Over the past decade of my activism here, I have witnessed how the Trinamool regime has come to symbolise corruption and state-sponsored violence,” he said.

Bidhan Bhavan sources said Bose was likely to contest the 2026 Assembly election from an urban seat.

Bengal Congress minder Mir asked why Bengal shouldn't consider making Sarkar the chief minister and Bose the finance minister in a Congress-led state government.