West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday claimed that "logical discrepancy" is not an officially recognised term under the Election Commission framework. She alleged that it was exclusively applied in the state during the SIR exercise to benefit the BJP.
Addressing a poll rally at Pingla in Paschim Medinipur district, Mamata called on people to vote against the BJP, saying it is the only way to take revenge against the saffron party for "snatching away everything from you."
"There is no officially recognised term like 'logical discrepancy' under the framework of the Election Commission. It is being selectively applied in West Bengal, unlike in Bihar, to benefit the BJP," the CM alleged.
The CM's comments came a day after the Supreme Court on Monday verbally remarked that the ECI appeared to have deviated from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) procedure that it had adopted in other states by introducing the new category of "logical discrepancy."
Nearly 90 lakh voters were deleted from the electoral rolls of West Bengal after the controversial SIR process, with nearly 34 lakh appeals currently pending before the tribunals.
The veteran politician also stated that she has not seen a "dirty party" like the BJP.
"The job of the central forces is to maintain peace. We have no objection to that. But what if they prevent people from voting? I will request women to keep brooms in their hands and stand firm against those wearing boots and carrying arms. I am not asking you to assault anyone or incite a riot, but you must do everything to safeguard your rights," Mamata said.
"I even moved the Supreme Court to protect your rights, and only after that, the names of 32 lakh voters were enlisted," she added.
She alleged that the BJP is holding rallies at places that have direct railway connectivity with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar so that they can bring in people from those states to fill up the venues.
Mamata also questioned why such a large number of central forces were brought to West Bengal.
"They have brought in officers who are close to the BJP and replaced the ICs...If your sole aim was to keep peace here, you could have used the West Bengal Police. Why, instead of doing that, did you take away all their powers and bring in central forces from outside? People don't see central forces during any natural calamity or riot," she alleged.
The CM asked people to lodge complaints against any police officer if they were "tortured."
"Lodge complaints whenever police torture you," she said.
Elections to the 294-member assembly will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, and the votes will be counted on May 4.
(With inputs from PTI)