Kolkata, March 7 (UNI) Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien on Saturday shared a ground report from the streets of Kolkata in the latest episode of his video series Morning Walk, highlighting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s ongoing sit-in protest against alleged large-scale deletions from the state’s voter rolls.
In episode #15 of the series, O’Brien said the video was being recorded from the site of the protest where Banerjee has launched a dharna to “protect the disenfranchisement of genuine voters.” The Chief Minister began the protest on Friday at the Metro Channel area in Esplanade, one of the busiest intersections in the city, and spent the night at the venue.
“This is a different kind of morning talk today,” O’Brien said in the video. “Mamata Banerjee is here on Day 1 of the dharna in a fight to protect the disenfranchisement of genuine voters. She spent the night at the location. Today we are on the streets of Calcutta on Day 2 of the dharna.”
Banerjee’s protest comes amid escalating political tensions over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections. According to official figures released by the poll body, about 63.66 lakh names—roughly 8.3 percent of the electorate—have been removed from the voter list since the revision process began in November last year. The total number of voters has consequently dropped from about 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore.
Addressing supporters from the dharna stage, Banerjee accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Election Commission of conspiring to “disenfranchise Bengali voters.” She also alleged that several individuals had been wrongly marked as deceased in the updated electoral rolls and said such cases would be highlighted at the protest site.
“I will expose the BJP-EC conspiracy to disenfranchise Bengali voters,” Banerjee said at the start of the sit-in.
The Metro Channel location has long held symbolic importance for Banerjee’s political protests. The Trinamool Congress leader had staged several demonstrations at the same venue during earlier movements, including protests during the Nandigram agitation and later political confrontations with central agencies.
The ruling Trinamool Congress has intensified its campaign against the electoral revision process, alleging that millions of legitimate voters could lose their voting rights. Party leaders argue that the exercise is politically motivated and could influence the outcome of the high-stakes state elections expected in April. The Election Commission, however, has rejected the allegations and maintained that the revision process follows standard procedures to remove duplicate, shifted, deceased or ineligible voters.
O’Brien’s video message forms part of a broader political push by the party to highlight the issue on social media and mobilise public attention around the protest. As Banerjee’s dharna entered its second day, Trinamool leaders said the demonstration would continue as part of their campaign to ensure that “no genuine voter is left out of the electoral rolls.”
The protest marks a return to Banerjee’s trademark street politics and signals that the voter roll controversy is likely to remain a central issue in the run-up to the West Bengal Assembly elections.
