Kolkata, Dec 1 (IANS) Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments urging the Opposition to focus on performance over “drama” in Parliament, asserting that the Centre was seeking to evade accountability for the reported deaths of 40 people in West Bengal linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

Speaking to reporters after inaugurating the ‘Sebaashray 2’ health camp in the Maheshtala area in South 24 Parganas, Banerjee clarified that demanding a parliamentary debate on the SIR was not “drama.”

“What the Opposition is asking for is a debate on the SIR. Is that drama? If raising the people’s voice is drama, then the people will give the government a reply in the next election,” Banerjee said.

“Around 40 people, including Booth Level Officers (BLOs), died because the SIR was executed in the state without consulting stakeholders. The BLOs themselves have blamed the Election Commission of India (ECI) for these fatalities. Where is the government’s accountability?” he questioned.

The TMC Lok Sabha MP alleged that people had waited in long queues during demonetisation ten years ago, yet the flow of black money had only grown. He asked where accountability lay when blasts were reported in the national capital and terrorists managed to slip into the country. He added that about 40 people had lost their lives because of an unplanned SIR exercise.

“They want to enjoy accountability without answering to the people,” he alleged.

Banerjee said that the Opposition wanted Parliament to run smoothly, but questioned why the government appeared defensive even after its victory in the Bihar election.

His remarks were after the Prime Minister’s comments ahead of the winter session, where he accused the Opposition of using Parliament either as a warm-up space for elections or as a place to release frustration after defeat. He said there was enough room elsewhere for theatrics and that Parliament should be a place for delivery, not drama.

Responding to his statement, Banerjee said that winning a few states did not free the government from its responsibility to the public.

He warned that the same electorate could remove it from office.

“We are raising questions on Pahalgam and the death of 40 people in the SIR drive, but they think this is a drama. We are not against SIR, but the way SIR is being conducted,” he said.

The TMC leader claimed that booth-level officers had not been properly trained, technical faults in the app used for uploading SIR forms had not been fixed, and the voter roll was not digitised for them.

When the Opposition sought a discussion on these matters, the Prime Minister chose to call it drama, he pointed out.

–IANS

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