Hailing the Supreme Court’s order on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list, Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday claimed that the apex court had upheld his party’s long-standing demands and exposed what he alleged was an understanding between the Election Commission and the BJP.

Addressing a public meeting at Barasat in North 24 Parganas shortly after the court’s directions were made public, Banerjee said the verdict was a victory for ordinary voters whose fundamental right to vote was under threat.

The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to publish the list of voters flagged for “logical discrepancies” and display it publicly at every gram panchayat, block and ward office.

The court also ruled that voters could submit documents through authorised representatives, including family members or booth-level agents, provided they carried proper authorisation.

Referring to the order, Banerjee said the “BJP’s SIR game is over” and alleged that despite valid documents, attempts were made over the past two to three months to delete the names of poor and elderly voters from the electoral rolls.

He said Trinamool had consistently demanded that the list of voters marked for discrepancies be made public, a demand that was earlier rejected by the Commission.

Banerjee recalled that he had met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi on December 31 along with a party delegation and had raised concerns over what he claimed was harassment of around 1.35 crore voters through hearing notices despite their documents being in order.

According to him, the Commission had refused to publish the list at the time, fearing that doing so would expose the process.

Welcoming the court’s clarification on the role of booth-level agents, Banerjee said Trinamool had also sought permission for its BLAs to be present at hearing centres, a demand that was earlier denied by the Commission.

He claimed the Supreme Court’s direction validated Trinamool’s position and called the verdict a win for the people of Bengal.

Launching a fresh attack on the BJP, Banerjee alleged that there was a deliberate attempt to selectively remove voters who did not support the ruling party at the Centre.

He said the court’s order had thwarted what he described as a plan to disenfranchise nearly one crore voters.

He asserted that the party would defeat the BJP both legally and politically.

A large part of Banerjee’s speech focused on alleged attacks on Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states, accusing the party of branding Bengali speakers as outsiders.

He also criticised religious polarisation and targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on these issues.

Looking ahead to the Assembly elections, Banerjee set an ambitious target for North 24 Parganas district, calling on party workers to win all 33 seats and to strengthen the organisation at the booth level.

He predicted that Trinamool would win more than 250 seats in the state and claimed the BJP’s tally would fall below 50.

Banerjee concluded by saying the Supreme Court’s order had reinforced faith in democracy and the rule of law, adding that Trinamool would continue to fight what it termed attempts to undermine the voting rights of Bengal’s people.