SIR Controversy Tilts Bengal Contest In TMC’s Favour: Ghose

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said that localised anti-incumbency in West Bengal has largely been overshadowed by the fallout of the SIR exercise, giving the party a clear edge over the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.

The journalist-turned-politician, who has been named among the TMC’s star campaigners, asserted that Mamata Banerjee does not face any significant disenchantment among her supporters. However, she acknowledged that some dissatisfaction may have existed at the local level, particularly among leaders who have since been replaced as candidates.

In its list of 291 candidates announced on March 17, the TMC dropped 74 sitting MLAs—nearly a third of its legislative strength—signalling a calibrated attempt to counter anti-incumbency.

"The BJP's agenda was to use the SIR process to defeat Mamata Banerjee and capture West Bengal by any means possible, since she has been continuously defeating the saffron party for the last 15 years.

"The exercise has now turned on its head, handing TMC a distinct advantage. If there was any local-level anti-incumbency brewing at all, that has been completely obscured by the SIR exercise. It was a gross mistake that the BJP committed," Ghose told PTI.

"Let them delete as many names as they want. We will still win," she added.

Ghose further claimed that the “hurriedly imposed” SIR exercise, which raised citizenship concerns for a wide spectrum of individuals—from Nobel laureate Amartya Sen to former chief secretary Nandini Chakravorty, minister Sashi Panja, and cricketer Richa Ghosh—has fuelled an anti-BJP sentiment in the state.

"Where are the infiltrators about whom the BJP was so vocal about?" she asked.

She credited Banerjee’s governance record and grassroots connect for the TMC’s continued strength, adding that her leadership “has gone largely unappreciated in the media”.

"She is a 24x7 politician, in touch with her people. After three terms, some amount of anti-incumbency at the local level is natural. But there is no such sentiment against her as a chief minister. She is the only person of recourse in the state. People know they can turn to her in times of difficulty and she will sort things out," Ghose said.

Describing Banerjee as a "political phenomenon that is unique in South Asia", Ghose said she had “successfully steered a political startup in a viciously misogynistic and patriarchal atmosphere of Indian politics” without a legacy or mentor.

Responding to concerns over women’s safety, she said the TMC had given space to women leaders like no other party.

"She has given public space to women leaders in TMC like no other political party in India has. We are a women-first party and there's no way we will tolerate crimes against women," she said.

Referring to crimes in BJP-ruled states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Delhi, she added that the family of the RG Kar victim had the “biggest chance of getting justice in West Bengal than anywhere else” in the country.

"I am not getting into whataboutery. But how many women assault cases do you get know from BJP-ruled states amid the enforced large-scale media blackout? Will the Delhi Police even allow protest movements against such crimes in the national capital?" she said.

While the mother of the RG Kar victim has expressed a desire to contest elections on a BJP ticket, the party has fielded Rekha Patra from Hingalganj. Sabina Yasmin, mother of another alleged victim, Tamanna Khatun, is contesting as a CPI(M) candidate.

"These women have exercised their choice. But as a party, the TMC has a zero-tolerance policy on crimes against women. The CM is herself a victim of unspeakable CPI(M) abuse. Ours is a party led by a strong group of women.

"Mamata has ensured over 30 per cent women representation in the TMC. Crimes against women are both horrible and tragic and we have no intention of brushing them under the carpet. That's why she passed the Aparajita Bill in the state assembly for strict punishment to perpetrators. Why has that Bill been stopped by the Centre," Ghose said.

On electoral challenges, Ghose pointed to the spread of misinformation.

"During my days as a journalist, I had little idea about the extent of disinformation that gets spread about West Bengal. The architecture of lies and disinformation about the state is huge and is coming round the clock. This is a formidable challenge for us to counter," she said.

She also referred to alleged targeting of Bengali-speaking migrants in other states.

"They declared a war on the Bengali language, issued notices alleging Muslim residents of Delhi's Jai Hind colony speak 'Bangladeshi language', whatever that means, out of scant regard and total ignorance of the multiple dialects of Bangla spoken in the state," she said.

"The harassment people faced on account of the BJP's anti-Bengal policies and its bulldozing of the under-prepared Election Commission in conducting the SIR have only ended up strengthening the TMC's position in the state," she added.