West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to meet the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, Gyanesh Kumar, at the Election Commission headquarters in New Delhi on Monday. The meeting will focus on concerns related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise underway in the state.
In addition to this, Mamata Banerjee is expected to engage with senior leaders of opposition parties to seek a consensus against the revision exercise. Party insiders revealed that the Chief Minister deliberately chose this time to visit the national capital as the ongoing budget session ensures the presence of key opposition leaders there.
The exact date of Mamata Banerjee’s return to Kolkata has not been fixed yet. However, sources within the Trinamool Congress (TMC) indicated she will likely return before February 5, as the West Bengal Assembly will present the vote-on-account on that day.
The budget session of the West Bengal Assembly is significant, with the treasury bench set to move two important resolutions. One will condemn the role of central investigative agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the state. The other will denounce the conduct of the ongoing SIR process in West Bengal.
Earlier, in a letter to the CEC, Mamata Banerjee raised doubts over the authority of Special Role Observers (SROs) and Micro-Observers appointed exclusively for reviewing the SIR in West Bengal. She argued that their powers extend beyond overseeing the SIR process, as they have been designated as approving authorities as well.
According to her letter, granting such authority to Micro-Observers has left Election Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Election Registration Officers (AEROs) powerless and isolated, reducing them to mere spectators. She further claimed that these additional powers granted to Observers and Micro-Observers contradict the democratic values, federalism, and fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.
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