Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was on a three-day trip to North Bengal may extend her stay in Siliguri till the situation across the border in Nepal subsided.
Banerjee on Wednesday said, “I was to return to Kolkata on Thursday but it seems that I have to extend my stay here until the situation normalises across the border.”
Expressing her concern about the political disturbance in the neighbouring country the Chief Minister said, "as a normal human being I will always want that peace prevails everywhere in the world," Banerjee said adding like in earlier occasions that her party would support whatever decision the central government would take regarding the matter.
"We love Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. We love all the bordering countries. I also urge residents of Siliguri, Kalimpong, and other areas near the Nepal border to maintain peace. Let Nepal return to normal. We cannot interfere; this is not our matter," she said.
Her party Trinamool Congress wrote on the X that "the unfolding situation in our neighbouring country, Nepal, is a matter of deep concern. Placing the interests of the state above all else … out Chief Minister," stayed at the State secretariat in North Bengal and was "personally monitoring every detail with utmost vigilance."
Banerjee also said that her Government would do everything to ensure safe return of the Indian tourists back. She said, "all efforts are being made to ensure that our tourists who are stranded in Nepal get back home at the earliest."
State Governor C.V. Ananda Bose too visited Panitanki a town off Siliguri bordering India and Nepal for a brief period to take stock of situation.
Meanwhile in an unrelated development the Chief Minister expressed doubts whether the Election Commission of India would be able to complete the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in a few months' time.
"They are telling that they will start SIR … but it is not possible to complete it in 2-3 months' time … rather it will take two years in the least to complete the process properly … so we are against SIR," Banerjee said demanding "impartiality" from the ECI.
The Chief Minister said the "ECI is expected to maintain and preserve democracy and act democratically … it should not act at the instance of some political parties."
The Chief Minister had earlier said that her party would resist SIR in Bengal in all ways and asked people to resist if there was any attempt to delete their names. "We will resist if a single name is deleted from voters' list," Banerjee said whereas State Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari said that "SIR will be conducted at any cost in Bengal and one crore names of Rohingyas and illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators who are the vote bank of the TMC will be deleted."
