TMC fears removal of legitimate voters from the electoral rolls at BJP’s behest
BENGALURU — The Election Commission’s decision to launch a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal has triggered a political row, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleging that the move could be used to delete genuine voters’ names at the BJP’s behest.
The BJP has welcomed the exercise as a means to eliminate “illegal voters”.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the second phase of the SIR will be conducted across 12 states and Union Territories — including West Bengal — from November 4, with draft rolls to be published on December 9 and final rolls on February 7.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said the exercise would cover about 51 crore voters and aims to ensure that “no eligible elector is left out and no ineligible elector is included”.
TMC Raises Concerns Over Deletion of Eligible Voters
Reacting vehemently to the ECI’s announcement, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the party would democratically protest any attempt to remove legitimate voters from the electoral rolls.
“If any attempts are being made to delete the names of any eligible voter, there will be protests. We have no problem with electoral roll revision, but in the name of it, if someone tries to delete the name of any eligible voter at the behest of the BJP, we will protest democratically,” Ghosh said, as quoted by news agency PTI.
He urged the people of West Bengal to remain calm and not “fall into the BJP’s trap.”
“We would urge everyone to maintain calm and not fall into the trap of the BJP. Just remember that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee are with the people of West Bengal,” he added. — With inputs from agencies
