Bengal CM stole limelight, despite me being original petitioner: CPI(M)’s Mostari Banu

Mostari Banu, a woman from Murshidabad who claimed to be the original petitioner in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-related case before the Supreme Court, alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee “stole the limelight” by appearing before the top court on February 4.

Also read: Highlights of West Bengal SIR hearing in Supreme Court

Ms. Banu, who hails from Murshidabad Bhagwangola and is associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said she had filed the petition a few weeks ago regarding harassment during the ongoing SIR in the state.

“The Supreme Court’s direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on January 19 was in response to my petition, but on February 4, the Chief Minister of West Bengal approached the Supreme Court and claimed that he was the actual petitioner in the matter,” the woman said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had personally appeared before the division bench of Chief Justice of India Surjya Kant on February 4 and had raised various issues related to the ongoing SIR, including summoning persons for hearing due to logical inconsistencies.

On February 5, CPI(M) State Secretary Md. Salim held a press conference and lashed out at a section of the media, saying that the woman who filed the initial petition was being ignored by the media. The CPI(M) leader was accompanied by lawyer Sabyasachi Chatterjee, who represented Mostari Banu, and said there was no provision under the Representative of the People Act, 1950, to collect data from people through census forms.

Ms. Banu said that she voted in 2002, but a notice was sent to her to appear before the ECI during the ongoing SIR. Mr. Salim said, “We are philosophically against SIR. The real victim of the process is Mostari Banu and that is why she applied to the Supreme Court.”

Ms. Banerjee’s appearance before the Supreme Court in person was a coup for the Trinamool Congress, which the party claimed was a “huge win”.