Suvendu accuses TMC, Left of spreading misinformation on SIR after poll defeat

Kolkata, Sep 27 (UNI) West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, strongly defending the legality and authenticity of the SIR process, accused the Trinamool Congress and the Left Front of launching "false propaganda" out of frustration following their defeat in the Assembly elections.

Addressing a press conference on Sunday, the chief minister alleged that the Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the Trinamool Congress was now politically aligned with the CPI(M). Alleging that the Trinamool Congress has joined hands with the CPI(M), the party against which it was originally formed, the chief minister said, "The Opposition is deliberately creating confusion and controversy over a recent newspaper report."

Adhikari recalled that Mamata Banerjee had formed the Trinamool Congress after breaking away from the Congress with the stated objective of ending 34 years of Left Front rule in West Bengal. He alleged that the CPI(M) government had been responsible for incidents including Sainbari, Nandigram, Dhantala and Tiljala, besides the closure of thousands of factories in the state. "Trinamool was formed to end the atrocities and injustice of 34 years of CPI(M) rule.

The same CPI(M) has now become their friend," Adhikari said, adding that the political understanding between the two sides reflected what he described as their "political bankruptcy". Citing a recent Assembly vote on a university-related Bill, the chief minister claimed that Banerjee's Trinamool legislators and the lone CPI(M) MLA had voted against the legislation. He said this was an indication of the two sides formally joining hands.

Adhikari also targeted the Congress over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that the party had taken different positions in different states. He claimed that the Congress had no objection to the SIR process in Kerala because it had won the election there, while opposing it in West Bengal. Rejecting allegations against the SIR process in West Bengal, Adhikari said the exercise had been conducted in accordance with the legal process. He recalled that Banerjee had approached the Supreme Court over the issue and claimed that the court had subsequently entrusted judges with deciding cases involving discrepancies in electoral data.

"The Supreme Court, using its special powers under Article 142 of the Indian Constitution, had given the responsibility to the judiciary to look into the logical discrepancies. They have rejected 27 lakh names out of the 60 lakhs. So neither the election commission nor the state administration were involved in the process," Adhikari said. "The people have given a clear mandate. You are unable to accept the verdict of the people and are therefore spreading misleading statements and attacking the elected government and the Election Commission," he said.

The BJP won 208 seats in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly in the 2026 elections, while the Trinamool Congress won 80 seats. Adhikari also highlighted the government's recruitment and welfare measures, claiming that 12,000 appointments had been completed after overcoming legal hurdles and that four lakh farmer families had received direct subsidies.

He further criticised the recent Mamata rally in Sreerampore, alleging that some gatherings had drawn only a small number of participants and accusing sections of the media of selectively showing visuals from the events. "There were only 150 people. She has already lost the party name and symbol. She needs to accept the reality," the chief minister said.

UNI SAG SAS