Kolkata, Dec. 15 -- Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday once again accused that the Election Commission of India (ECI) in "collusion" with the BJP hatched a "sinister" plot to drag 2 crore voters of Bengal into hearings under the so-called 'SIR Process'.

Raising a question over the incident in which records of around 30 lakh genuine mysteriously "don't match" old rolls, the ruling party in Bengal termed the "exercise" as "voter intimidation" and not "verification". Trinamool Congress also stated that another 1.6 crore people being branded with "errors" and "illogical claims", suddenly raised suspicion.

In a post on X, Trinamool Congress wrote: "Without even releasing a draft voter list, an attempt is being made to cast doubt on nearly TWO CRORE VOTERS in Bengal. This atmosphere of suspicion did not emerge on its own. BJP leaders repeatedly declared that millions of names would be removed, and today the Commission appears to be acting in line with those declarations."

The ruling party reiterated that they already warned that ECI was functioning under BJP's "influence".

"The @BJP4India-Election Commission nexus is attempting something sinister: 2 crore voters of Bengal will now be dragged into hearings under the so-called 'SIR Process'. This is not verification, this is voter intimidation," Trinamool Congress wrote further.

Questioning the citizenship of Bengalis, the BJP was trying to create fear, and also paving the way for mass deletion of voters, Trinamool stated. "This is not governance; this is a political conspiracy to disenfranchise Bengal. But Bengal is not alone. Under the fearless leadership of Hon'ble Chief Minister @MamataOfficial, a clear message has already gone out, no one needs to be afraid. Every voter will be protected. Every right will be defended. No conspiracy will be allowed to erase Bengal's voice," Trinamool added.

It also asserted that under the leadership of the Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, every legitimate voter's right will be protected in Bengal. Any attempt to tamper with democracy will be challenged firmly, it added.

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