Helicopter's insurance failure leads CM Mamata to travel via road for SIR protest in Matua belt

Helicopter's insurance failure leads CM Mamata to travel via road for SIR protest in Matua belt. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is hitting the streets once more today, this time zeroing in on the fears gripping the Matua community over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Mamata's powerful protest in Matuagarh today kickstarts marching from Chandpara to Thakurnagar to rally cries of solidarity and end with a fiery public meeting at Bongaon's Trikon Park. The SIR drive, rolled out by the Election Commission across 12 states including Bengal aims to scrub voter lists clean—but TMC sees it as a sneaky BJP ploy to axe genuine names, especially from Matua pockets where citizenship woes run deep.

Mamata's move comes hot on the heels of a 13-day hunger strike by Matua supporters, led by TMC MP Mamata Bala Thakur, which wrapped up only after Abhishek Banerjee's personal plea, underscoring the party's all-in fight to keep every eligible voice in the game. The buzz in Matua strongholds like Bongaon, Thakurnagar and Gaighata is thick with worry: families who fled persecution in what is now Bangladesh fear SIR could strip them of their hard-won voting rights, echoing ghosts of the NRC debates that left scars. TMC has fired back hard, flinging open help desks statewide since November 4 to guide residents across Bengal through the paperwork maze and check their names stay put. Mamata herself stormed Kolkata's streets last week in a mega rally, Constitution in hand, vowing to topple the Centre if even one fair voter gets booted— a bold echo of her warnings that this "invisible rigging" targets two crore souls, pushing some to despair and even tragedy.

Today's protest isn't just optics; it's Mamata planting her flag firmly with the Matuas, a community that's swung between TMC loyalty and BJP lures via CAA promises, amid family rifts inside Matua Thakurbari. By marching shoulder-to-shoulder, she will send a clear message: no one gets left behind in Bengal's battle for ballots. As SIR teams fan out, the CM's presence could spark a turnout wave, turning fear into fuel for the 2026 elections showdown. In a state where votes are as sacred as the Ganga, this protest path feels like a pledge to protect the people's power.