SIR 'DEATHS' RAISE FEVER

Six deaths, some by suicide. The TMC ups the ante dramatically at a massive rally, linking these to a 'motivated' SIR and fears of exclusion. Melodrama, says the BJP

- Arkamoy Datta Majumdar

INDIAN POLITY, BENGALI SOUL. FROM THE AMBEDKAR STATUE on Red Road to Jorasanko, the natal place of Tagore. On November 4, as chief minister Mamata Banerjee led thousands in this four-kilometre march on the streets of Kolkata, holding a copy of the Constitution, it sought to lay down two nonnegotiable lines in the sand for everyone out there—constitutionality and the space it affords for provincial dignity. It's fruitful for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to cast its protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as being embedded within such a larger struggle. From the stage overlooking the massive gathering, Mamata captured the mood of the moment: “The very people who ignited India's freedom struggle are now being made to prove their belonging.”