Kolkata, Jan. 13 -- West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the Election Commission of India and the Bharatiya Janata Party of colluding to delete nearly 54 lakh voters from the draft electoral rolls in the state using what she described as "black magic" and artificial intelligence.

Addressing a Press conference at Nabanna, Banerjee alleged a conspiracy to rig elections in West Bengal on the lines of Maharashtra, Haryana and Bihar.

She claimed the deletions were carried out unilaterally through a misuse of powers vested in Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), without informing voters or giving them an opportunity to defend their inclusion.

She said most of the deleted names belonged to "genuine electors" and alleged that the Election Commission had become an "extended party office of the BJP". According to Banerjee, artificial intelligence tools "devised by the BJP" were used from Delhi to flag alleged mismatches in Special Intensive Revision (SIR) data, resulting in mass deletions.

She claimed women who changed their surnames after marriage were disproportionately affected and questioned the introduction of the concept of "logical discrepancy", saying it was not part of the original SIR process. "In the name of logical discrepancy, they have prepared a list of 1.36 lakh voters, but no list has been given to us," she said, alleging a plan to delete up to one crore names from the final rolls.

The Chief Minister accused the poll body of deploying micro-observers only in West Bengal despite SIR rules not permitting it, and of not allowing Booth Level Agents (BLA-2s) to attend hearings. She also claimed similar methods had earlier been used in Maharashtra, Bihar and Haryana.

Highlighting what she described as the human cost of the revision exercise, Banerjee claimed that 84 people had died, four had died by suicide and 17 had suffered strokes. "People who are alive are being declared dead," she said, holding the Election Commission and the BJP responsible.

Separately, the Trinamool Congress claimed on social media that a vehicle travelling from Taldangra towards Khatra in Bankura was intercepted carrying pre-filled Form 7 applications meant for voter deletion. The party alleged the forms already contained names, details and objections. According to the TMC, two BJP workers were caught while three others fled, and an FIR has been lodged.

Banerjee said she had directed all police stations to register FIRs if SIR forms or related documents were illegally transported. She also questioned the rejection of domicile certificates during SIR, alleging that valid government documents were being arbitrarily refused in West Bengal.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.