BJP MP Rekha Sharma accused WB CM Mamata Banerjee of indulging in vote-bank politics. This followed Banerjee's call for women to lead a fight against alleged "illegal voter deletions" by the BJP during the electoral roll revision process.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Rekha Sharma on Friday hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of indulging solely in vote-bank politics after Banerjee urged women in the state to "lead the fight" against alleged "illegal voter deletions" through Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Reacting to Mamata Banerjee's comments, Rekha Sharma said the West Bengal Chief Minister is already in election mode and has nothing to offer beyond vote-bank politics. "She has already gone into campaign mode... She (Mamata Banerjee) only does vote-bank politics. For the entire 5 years, she has only done vote-bank politics; she has no other work besides that," Sharma said to ANI.
Mamata urges women to 'lead the fight'
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday urged the women of the state to "lead the fight" against the alleged "illegal voter deletion" through Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. She asked men to provide support from behind.
Addressing a gathering at Krishnanagar, Nadia, Mamata Banerjee alleged that the BJP wants to "take away" the rights and "terrify" women, and urged them to show that women are "more powerful" than the BJP. "Through SIR, they [BJP] want to take away the rights of women. During elections, they want to use Central forces to terrify the women. Do you have the strength to fight if your names are removed? Women should lead the fight and men should fight from the back. I want to see whether our women are more powerful or the BJP," Mamata Banerjee said.
Accusing the BJP of "pressurising" the District Magistrate, Mamata Banerjee vowed to do a sit-in protest if names are removed "deliberately" from the voter lists. "I have not come here to seek votes. I have come here to urge you to enrol your names in the electoral list. From Delhi, the BJP is sending people to pressurise the DMs with the intent of removing 1.5 crore names from the electoral list. If any name is deliberately removed, I will do a sit-in protest. I urge you to do the same," Mamata Banerjee said.
ECI extends electoral roll revision deadlines
Earlier, the Election Commission of India, on Thursday, extended the deadlines for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in five States and one Union Territory.
As Per the revised schedule, the enumeration period for Tamil Nadu and Gujarat has been extended to December 14, with the draft roll to be published on December 19. The enumeration period for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands will end on December 18, with the draft rolls on December 23. Uttar Pradesh received an extension of 15 days with the enumeration period ending on December 26 and draft rolls to be published on December 31, ECI said in a press note.
In the earlier schedule, the enumeration period for these six States and UTs was until December 11, and the draft electoral rolls were published on December 16. (ANI)
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