CM will lead a three-km-long protest march against the SIR from Chandpara to Thakurnagar
Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to expand her movement of opposition to the Election Commission's special intensive revision (SIR) of the voters' list from the city to the districts amid the drive that already claimed many lives due to fear and stress.
After hitting the streets in the city on November 4 when the SIR enumeration form distribution began, the Trinamul Congress supremo is now taking it to the bastion of the Matuas, a community of Hindu migrants who voted for the BJP in the last Assembly Election.
On November 25, Ms Banerjee will fly to Bongaon in North 24 Parganas near the India-Bangladesh border. She will address a mega TMC rally at Trikon Park at 1 pm after landing in a chopper at Pratapgarh ground on Chakdah Road there.
Later, the CM will lead a three-km-long protest march against the SIR from Chandpara to Thakurnagar. Habra TMC MLA and former state minister Jyotipriyo Mullick has already discussed Ms Banerjee's event with district leaders including Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Bala Thakur and Biswajit Das after talking to their party chief.
Confirming Ms Banerjee's upcoming visit, Mr Das said that the TMC supremo would give a message of her support to the Matuas and other communities who have been in the grip of fear of losing citizenship and facing deportation since the SIR began.
Ms Banerjee's move to reach out to the Matuas comes close on the heels of a 13-day hunger strike by Ms Thakur, who also belongs to the same community and is a key face in the All India Matua Mahasangha opposite to her MP nephew from BJP and union minister Santanu Thakur.
