KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the BJP of adding fake voters from other states to the electoral rolls with the alleged backing of the Election Commission (EC), claiming that the party had used similar tactics to secure victories in the Delhi and Maharashtra assembly elections.
Speaking at a Trinamool Congress state conference, Banerjee raised concerns over the appointment of Gyanesh Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner, alleging that the BJP was attempting to exert influence over the constitutional body.
“It is evident how the BJP is tampering with the voters’ list with the blessings of the Election Commission,” she alleged.
Banerjee warned that if necessary action was not taken to correct the electoral roll, her party would stage a dharna in front of the EC office.
Holding a sheaf of papers in her hands, she read out a list of names and cited that electoral rolls were being manipulated with the blessings of the EC in Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections early next year. “The cat is out of the bag now. This is how the BJP is manipulating the voters’ list with the blessings of the EC,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee formed a committee to check the irregularities in the voters’ list in every district of West Bengal. The CM said she had got a list of names from South Dinajpur’s Gangarampur and Murshidabad’s Raninagar as samples of how old voters were being removed by new voters with the same photo identity card number issued by the EC.
She read out the names of one Mohammad Shahidul Islam from Raninagar, against whose EPIC number one Sonia Devi from Haryana has been included and a Manjeet from Haryana shares the same card with Raninagar’s Mohammad Ali Hussain. Banerjee alleged the BJP had hired two agencies --- Association of Billion Minds and India 360 --- which were including the names of people from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana in the voters’ list through online system.