Kolkata, Jan. 25 -- The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday held protests across several districts of West Bengal on National Voters' Day, alleging large-scale exclusion of eligible voters during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
TMC leaders accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of pushing a "false narrative" on the SIR exercise and acting in a partisan manner.
State minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, who led a rally in south Kolkata, alleged that Supreme Court directions on publishing the list of voters flagged for "logical discrepancies" had not been fully complied with. "There is a conspiracy to prevent a large number of people from exercising their franchise in the coming Assembly elections," she claimed. The protests coincided with the observance of National Voters' Day by the Bengal CEO office, where representatives of political parties objected to CEC Gyanesh Kumar's virtual address, particularly his remark that a "false narrative" was being spread over the SIR in Bengal.
TMC state president Subrata Bakshi claimed that around 1.5 crore voters were being excluded from the rolls and demanded that no eligible voter be left out. TMC MLA Saukat Molla made similar allegations at a rally in Canning, claiming that over 130 people had died by suicide due to anxiety linked to the SIR exercise. Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal rejected the allegations, saying no reports of such deaths had been received from district election officers and that no communication had been made regarding the exclusion of voters on that scale. "We intend to ensure that no legitimate voter is left out and no illegitimate voter enters the rolls," he said.
Congress leader Asutosh Chatterjee and CPI(M) leader Kallol Majumder also raised concerns over the SIR exercise.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.