Mamata Brings Special Police Team From Bengal To 'Protect' SIR 'Affected' Families In Delhi's Banga Bhawan

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee deployed a special state police contingent to New Delhi on Monday night to take over security duties at Banga Bhavan, an official guest house of the Bengal government in the national capital.

This comes a day after Banerjee criticised the deployment of heavy security personnel outside Delhi's Banga Bhawan, an official guest house of the West Bengal government in the national capital. Families affected by Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in electoral rolls have reportedly been staying at the guesthouse. She had also accused the Delhi Police of failing to protect citizens.

According to sources, Banerjee dispatched a 25-member Bengal Police team, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), an inspector-ranked officer and a Rapid Action Force (RAF) unit, to Delhi to protect the SIR-affected families in the national capital. 

The deployment was sanctioned by Nabanna, which houses the current State Secretariat of the Government of West Bengal. This comes as an unprecedented instance of the ongoing escalation between the Bengal Government and the Centre over SIR. According to reports, Nabanna officials said that the special police team has been deployed to take over internal security and ensure the safety of personnel currently in Delhi for SIR.

On Monday, Banerjee had met Election Commission officials wearing black shawls as a sign of protest over the SIR of electoral rolls in Bengal. Earlier on Monday, she accused the Delhi Police of failing to protect citizens and alleged that hundreds of people were wrongly removed from the electoral rolls after being recorded as deceased. "We brought 50 people here who were declared dead in the SIR. The Delhi Police cannot protect anyone. A feudal system is still in operation in Delhi," she had said.

Banerjee reached the national capital on Sunday, with Trinamool MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Kalyan Banerjee. Prior to bringing the SIR battle to the national capital, she had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Supreme Court against the ongoing SIR of the electoral rolls in the state.

Also read: 'Unparliamentary, Undemocratic': Mamata Meets Chief Election Commissioner Over SIR, Holds 'Black Shawl' Protest In Delhi