TMC claims 40 SIR-related deaths in West Bengal; says CEC has 'blood on his hands'

New Delhi: A Trinamool Congress delegation on Friday met the full bench of the Election Commission of India here and alleged that at least 40 SIR-related deaths had taken place in West Bengal, accusing the poll panel chief of having "blood on his hands".

The 10-member delegation, led by TMC Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien, met the EC officials amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.

The delegation consisted of Lok Sabha MPs Mahua Moitra, Satabdi Roy, Kalyan Banerjee, Pratima Mondal, Sajda Ahmed, and Rajya Sabha MPs Dola Sen, Mamata Thakur, Saket Gokhale, and Prakash Chik Barik.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, O'Brien said the party raised five questions, but Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar did not give any answers.

"We started the meeting by stating that the CEC has blood on his hands. We raised five questions. After this, Kalyan Banerjee, Mahua Moitra, and Mamata Bala Thakur spoke and shared whatever they had to in about 40 minutes," O'Brien said.

"Then the CEC spoke uninterrupted for one hour. We were also not interrupted while we spoke, but we did not receive any answer to any of our five questions," he said.

Moitra said the delegation shared with the CEC a list of 40 people whose deaths, they alleged, were linked to the SIR process. The commission, however, dismissed it as mere allegations, the Lok Sabha MP claimed.

Meanwhile, O'Brien asserted that the TMC is not opposed to the concept of SIR, but is "strongly opposed to the unplanned manner in which the CEC and EC are going about the job".

"Completely unplanned and heartless," he said about the SIR exercise.

The SIR is currently underway in 12 states and Union territories, including West Bengal.