TMC leaders in West Bengal have urged the Election Commission to release the list of 1.36 crore voters deleted from the draft roll due to 'logical discrepancies', criticizing the process as unconstitutional and non-transparent.
TMC Demands Transparency on Deleted Voters
Trinamool Congress leader and State Minister Shashi Panja urged the Election Commission to reveal the list of electors whose names have been deleted from the draft SIR roll citing logical discrepancy issue following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in West Bengal. Speaking to reporters, Dr Shashi Panja said, "There have been repeated visits to the Chief Electoral Office in West Bengal of a delegation of the representatives of the All India Trinamool Congress. The Election Commission has said that one crore 36 lakh electors have logical discrepancies and have been thrown out by the EC. We want the list of the people who are within this logical discrepancy issue."
She asked why the list is not being made transparent when the ECI claims that they want a very transparent voter roll. "The hearing started on December 27. You can find elderly senior citizens and extremely fragile people who are trying to cross long distances to reach the venues scheduled for the hearing. It is not humanitarian at all. Some electors may be absent today for their hearing. They were not giving any dates. They would have deleted his name and told him to come through Form 6 again, which is unconstitutional," she added.
Delegation Meets CEO, Alleges Trust Erosion
A five-member delegation of the Trinamool Congress Party met the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal on Saturday. In a post on X, TMC said, "The delegation made it clear that such tactics corrode public trust and shred the credibility of the electoral process in Bengal. We demanded that CEO-WB enforce statutory procedure without fear or favour and shield every eligible citizen from wrongful, engineered exclusion"
"We stand guard over Bengal's democratic rights. No force, no conspiracy, no BJP-ECI machinery will be allowed to erase the people's voice or their vote," the post added.
ECI 'Unprepared', Process 'Unlawful': TMC Minister
As the hearing on discrepancies started on December 27, West Bengal Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said that the EC was not prepared. Speaking to reporters, Chandrima Bhattacharya on Saturday said, "We are repeatedly saying that what is happening in West Bengal should not be happening... The power to dispose of Form 7 rests with the ERO, and you are taking that power away from them... This will not work; this is not lawful. We have said this. We have also noted that you are taking the power away and giving it to the DEO... That shouldn't happen either. You are violating the Representation of the People Act and the electoral rules."
"The hearing started today, but you are still not prepared... We have asked whether this data consultancy firm has some connection with the BJP because it's a private agency... What are you doing in the name of this survey? Has someone told you that you have to remove 1-2 crore voters from here? Is that why you are doing this?" she added. (ANI)
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