Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission after a nearly 90-minute meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging large-scale deletion of voters’ names during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and accusing the poll panel of functioning at the behest of the BJP.
Banerjee told reporters that voters’ claims were being cancelled over minor spelling variations and title changes common in Bengal. “They first removed people’s names. The Election Commissioner is the BJP’s IT cell. You say this is a democracy?” she said. Banerjee said names were being deleted even due to spelling differences such as Banerjee and Bandyopadhyay, Mukherjee and Mukhopadhyay, or Chatterjee and Chattopadhyay.
In Bengal, surnames change. People change their titles. They are cutting names because of title changes,” she said, adding that such differences were being flagged as “anomalies” to strike names off the electoral rolls. She claimed that as many as 58 lakh voters had been removed without being given a hearing. “They didn’t even ask,” she said. The chief minister alleged that booth-level officers (BLOs) were being pressurised during the exercise. “There is pressure on the BLOs,” she said.
In a media statement, TMC said Mamata’s sudden visit was prompted by “heavy Delhi Police deployment outside Banga Bhawan since morning to restrict our movement and create an environment of intimidation and surveillance.” The party said the chief minister also criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the role of Delhi Police. It is sad that the Centre has deployed forces outside both our Banga Bhawans. People whose family members died due to SIR are now being guarded,” Mamata said.
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