Mamata Slams EC Over 1.2 Crore 'Deleted' Voters
On Bhowanipore, Ms Banerjee pointed out, “It's a small seat with 2.6 lakh voters. Initially, 44,000 names were deleted, then 2,000 followed by 14,000 ‘under adjudication' for logical discrepancies.
Kolkata: Accusing the Election Commission (EC) and BJP of a “bias" to delete around 1.20 crore names in the special intensive revision (SIR) of the voters' list ahead of the West Bengal Assembly polls, chief minister Mamata Banerjee sounded confident on Monday of her retaining her assembly constituency, Bhowanipore, this time "even by one vote".
“Around 1.20 crore voters are going to be deprived of their rights. I'm sad. On Sunday a voter died in shock after being placed ‘under adjudication' despite submitting necessary documents including passport. I have feelings for the sufferers, poor and commoners. They didn't have any fault. They submitted everything. Still their names were deleted,” the CM said at a pre-Holi event in the city days after the EC axed around 63.66 lakh names and put another 60.6 lakh 'under adjudication' in the SIR roll.
She added, “Can't we think ourselves Indian after living here for so many years? Don't you think it's proper? Isn't it an injustice? I'm not talking about any particular religion. Each and every original elector has the moral right to remain voters of this country. But a biased Government of India and biased EC, led by Vanish Kumar (read CEC Gyanesh Kumar), want to vanish their names. Now the Constitution is in crisis and democratic rights are in danger. I condemn this.”
On Bhowanipore, Ms Banerjee pointed out, “It's a small seat with 2.6 lakh voters. Initially, 44,000 names were deleted, then 2,000 followed by 14,000 ‘under adjudication' for logical discrepancies. Where are the voters? Why are they missing? Still I will win at Bhowanipore even if there is one vote. I believe in that. I have that trust.”
Taking a dig at the ‘Parivartan Jatra’ of BJP, the Trinamul Congress supremo alleged, “A Rathayatra has been underway in a five-star car with mikes. This will be your last journey, Vinash Yatra. Mark my words.” She also called Chief Electoral Officer West Bengal Manoj Agarwal 'the most mischievous' in a veiled reference for passing the buck to booth level officers and electoral registration officers for the deletion of names.