Highways blocked in Malda, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar as anti-SIR protests spread across West Bengal

Kolkata: Just three weeks ahead of the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly election, protests over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls spread across several districts of the state on Thursday, with agitators blocking roads and highways over the deletion of names from poll lists.

Protesters burned tyres, blocked roads and held silent marches in Malda, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Purba Bardhaman, where voting will be held on April 23.

A day earlier, seven judicial officers, including three women, who were engaged in the electoral rolls revision exercise, were gheraoed in Malda district's Kaliachak. They were rescued by security forces after several hours.

Alleging large-scale deletion of voters' names, the protesters also blocked National Highway 12, connecting Kolkata and Siliguri, on Wednesday.

Latching on to the incidents, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of drawing up a "blueprint of conspiracy" to foment unrest in the state and pave the way for President's rule ahead of the assembly elections.

Hours after the Kaliachak incident, which led the Supreme Court to describe West Bengal as "the most polarised state", protesters blocked NH-12 again, this time at Mangalbari area of the district on Thursday morning.

They set tyres on fire and erected bamboo barricades on the road, bringing traffic to a halt. A similar agitation was held at Jadupur in the English Bazar area.

"We have all the necessary documents, yet our names have been struck off the voter list. We want immediate rectification," a protester said.

The blockade at Mangalbari continued for nearly four hours. It was lifted after Malda Additional District Magistrate Sheikh Ansar Ahmed reached the spot and assured the protesters that their grievances would be looked into.

A police officer said, "When police personnel attempted to lift the blockade, they were attacked by protesters. Several police vehicles were vandalised, and a driver sustained head injuries." "Security has been stepped up in the area," he added.

In Jalpaiguri's Maynaguri, locals blocked National Highway-27 at Husuldanga from Thursday morning, alleging that many genuine voters had been marked as "deleted" or kept under "adjudication" after the SIR exercise.

The blockade, since morning, brought the highway traffic to a standstill, with long queues of goods-carrying vehicles seen on both sides of the road.

Holding up placards, people raised slogans against the Election Commission and demanded that their names be put back on the electoral rolls.

Security forces, along with administrative officials, reached the spot and spoke to the protesters, but they refused to relent. The blockade on NH-27 was lifted hours later after prolonged negotiations.

Another group blocked the Maynaguri-Lataguri road. The Maynaguri-Dhupguri stretch of the Asian Highway was obstructed at Churabhandar by the locals.

The anti-SIR agitation has also spread to neighbouring Cooch Behar district, where residents of Madrasa More in Pachagarh gram panchayat area blocked the Cooch Behar-Mathabhanga state highway for nearly three hours.

They squatted on the road, burnt tyres, alleging that several names had "disappeared" from the electoral rolls and demanded an explanation from the authorities.

In Purba Bardhaman, a silent march was organised at Shaktigarh, where protesters claimed that many genuine voters have found their names missing from the poll rolls.

They later submitted a memorandum to the BDO of Bardhaman-II block, demanding immediate correction of the voters' list.

Against the backdrop of the fresh unrest, Chief Minister Banerjee accused Union Home Minister Shah of scripting a "blueprint of conspiracy" to foment unrest in the state and urged people not to fall into the "BJP's trap".

Addressing rallies at Sagardighi and Suti in Murshidabad district, she alleged that the Election Commission had failed to protect the judicial officers in Malda.

"My powers have been taken away, and Bengal has been defamed. Nobody from the administration even informed me about the Malda incident," she said.

Referring to the Supreme Court's observations on the Malda incident, Banerjee said the apex court had rightly criticised the administration.

The Supreme Court has described the gherao of the judicial officers as "deplorable" and ordered an independent probe by the CBI or the NIA into it.

While condemning the attack on the judicial officers, Banerjee maintained that people had the right to protest, but "no one should touch judges or judicial officers".

She also alleged that the Malda incident was being used by the BJP to "defame the whole of Bengal".