Mamata ends SIR stir, says game is not yet over

Four days after she sat on a sit-in demonstration in Kolkata protesting the deletions during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ended her dharna on Tuesday (March 10, 2026) with a promise to continue the fight till every voter was assured of their right to vote. 

Ms. Banerjee cited the developments in the Supreme Court earlier on Tuesday (March 10, 2026), when the court suggested setting up a special tribunal to hear appeals from the objections phase as a positive outcome of her protest.  

“Even if they [the Election Commission of India or EC] declare the elections on March 15-16, the game will not end there. The game will continue in the Supreme Court,” Ms. Banerjee said, from the stage set up for the dharna, before ending her sit-in demonstration on its fifth day. 

“Our dharna was for two reasons — one was for the people who were wrongfully deleted from the voter lists, and to bring justice for the people who were placed under adjudication and ensure they get back their voter rights,” she said.  

Her dharna was also against the interference of the EC in the work of judicial officers who were working to resolve the cases under adjudication, she said. 

During the five-day protest, Ms. Banerjee and her party aides targeted the EC. The Commission was working as an agent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to snatch voting rights away from people of the State, Ms. Banerjee said. 

The Chief Minister’s dharna began on March 6. She was joined by her party colleagues, including MPs and Ministers. The decision to end the demonstration came after Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee made a public appeal on Tuesday (March 10) to the party chairperson and his aunt to end the protest. 

“The Supreme Court has acknowledged our demands today. So, I am appealing to Didi on behalf of everybody that you have been on the road for the past five days… Now call for an end to this dharna,” Mr. Banerjee said from the stage set up for the dharna. 

The fight was not ending, the Diamond Harbour MP said, and they would end the fight only when every citizen got their right to vote. TMC workers were still there, he said, and they would continue the fight on the road from hereon, and would “defeat the BJP from all 80,000 booths”. 

Meets C.V. Ananda Bose 

After ending her dharna in Kolkata, Ms. Banerjee went to meet former West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose in Kolkata. Mr. Bose resigned on March 5; former Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi is slated to take over as the next Governor of West Bengal. 

The Trinamool Congress chairperson started the dharna as a protest against “wrongfully” deleted voters, and for the 60 lakh people of West Bengal placed under adjudication after the SIR process was completed and the final voter list was published on February 28. 

The full Bench of the EC, on a two-day visit to West Bengal, is likely to head back to Delhi and announce the Assembly election in the next few days, even as the voter rights of 60 lakh people remain in a limbo.

The Assembly election may be held in April.