Mamata Banerjee questions fairness of the Census, asks whether it’s another SIR

The TMC supremo also alleged that some people in the BJP who do not know the politics, the culture, are insulting Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

Former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday (August 4, 2026) raised doubts over the ongoing Census exercise in West Bengal and asked whether it is turning out to be another Special Intensive Revision (SIR). 

“Census has been started. But no political party has been informed. At least the Trinamool Congress was not informed. Nobody knows whose name will be deleted. Is it going to be another SIR? Who knows!!” said Ms. Banerjee during a livestream on Facebook. 

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Over 90 lakh voters’ names were deleted in SIR in West Bengal while the special appellate tribunals and judicial panels are still reviewing thousands of appeals and applications stemming from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exclusions. The exercise also sparked a massive political controversy as the Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of targeting Muslims and deleting their names from the voter lists. They also accused the BJP of trying to implement CAA in Bengal through the backdoor of this exercise. 

Meanwhile, the self-enumeration process for Census 2027 has started in West Bengal to register the household details online before census officials begin door-to-door visits. The online self-enumeration window for the first phase of the Census will remain open till August 15. 

Ms. Banerjee, on Tuesday, called for a mass movement to stop BJP’s anarchy and urged all the political parties to come together to fight this battle. “Those who are thinking that they can fight it alone are making the biggest mistake,” she said. 

She alleged that the West Bengal government is not allowing her to come on the streets by not giving permission for any of their political events or gatherings. She said that the BJP has also planfully frozen all the party’s bank accounts. 

She also slammed the BJP for misusing the police to threaten their legislators. “They have turned Sonar Bangla into a prison. Police are threatening all the MLAs and MPs to follow what the BJP is saying. Is this the police’s job to do? Most of these BJP leaders neither understand politics nor the culture of Bengal. Sometimes, silence is good. But they don’t know what happens when the river flows by breaking all the barriers,” said Ms. Banerjee. 

She also criticised the BJP and said, “Some people in the BJP who do not know the politics, the culture, are insulting the patriot Subhash Chandra Bose. The slogan Jai Hind is heard on everyone’s lips. Netaji and Rabindranath Tagore are out of the country. Many are making fun of them. We are ashamed to hear their language. Some are calling him a traitor. Some are playing the dirty game of politics.”

Urging the younger generation to remain vigilant, she said, “I will tell the young generation to look a little. Will Bengal be lost from Bengal? Before coming to power, the BJP said that it would open the file. Where did all that go? Netaji will be disrespected in his place.”

The TMC supremo said that she will come back with double strength every time the BJP will try to stop her. “It is my right to fight for the people. I don’t care about the chair. BJP wants to control both the government and the opposition. People will not spare it. If they have toxic traits in their heads, we have the message of harmony.”