Mamata, MA Baby Join Hands Over SIR Concerns, Push For INDIA Bloc Meeting

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and CPI(M) secretary M A Baby have reopened communication after decades of rivalry in West Bengal, amid concern over differences within the Election Commission on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Both parties are founding constituents of the INDIA bloc but maintained no communication. Sources said Mamata and Baby spoke over the phone after Baby wrote to Opposition and non-BJP parties. They discussed bringing Opposition parties together to launch a joint campaign to safeguard the credibility of the electoral system. It is also learnt that Didi spoke to LoP Rahul Gandhi and urged him to call an INDIA bloc meeting next week. Baby’s letter called the recently published news report a “major exposé”, raising questions over the commission’s credibility and saying the democratic process was at stake. He claimed the process could affect voting rights of more than 13 crore voters and urged a collective response. Baby proposed a date and venue and approached non-INDIA parties, including BRS, AAP, DMK, Tamil Nadu’s ruling party TVK, BJD and the Cockroach Janta Party. Mamata is learnt to have told Baby that INDIA constituents should meet without delay and work out a strategy. Coordination gathered momentum after reports said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded objections at least 14 occasions over 10 months to SIR-related decisions. Opposition parties have demanded CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s removal and an independent inquiry into the EC under Supreme Court oversight, and are likely to submit a notice in Parliament.