The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has voiced serious concerns over large-scale deletions from electoral rolls in West Bengal, with its General Secretary M A Baby writing to the Election Commission on Thursday seeking urgent intervention.
In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Baby expressed "anguish, grave concern and strong protest" over the issue.
Citing reports, the CPI(M) leader said over 90 lakh voters, nearly 12 per cent of the state’s electorate, have been removed from the rolls. He alleged that many of those excluded were placed under the category "under adjudication", while grievance redressal mechanisms remained "inaccessible and non-operational".
The party contended that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise went beyond routine administrative updating and instead amounted to a "systematic exercise in mass disenfranchisement".
It criticised the use of what it termed as "arbitrary criteria", and raised concerns over "algorithm-driven exclusions" replacing transparent, field-based verification.
"We have since the outset held that contrary to a routine administrative updating of electoral rolls, the SIR represents a systematic exercise in mass disenfranchisement, marked by arbitrary criteria such as 'logical consistency' and the increasing reliance on algorithm-driven exclusions rather than transparent, field-based verification," the letter read.
"The voter was treated as a suspect and the burden to prove otherwise rested on them," the letter stated, adding that the process had caused "monetary loss, inconvenience, mental trauma and even deaths".
The CPI(M) also flagged concerns over the alleged lack of transparency in the exercise, claiming that electoral lists were released in formats that hindered public scrutiny.
It further cited independent analyses suggesting that marginalised groups, including Muslims, women and economically weaker sections, were disproportionately affected.
The party contended that such deletions violate the constitutional guarantee of voting rights under Article 326 of the Indian Constitution, calling the right to vote a "core democratic right integral to equality and dignity".
Reiterating its demand, the CPI(M) urged the Election Commission to ensure that the constitutional right to vote is protected "at any cost" and called for corrective measures to address the alleged exclusions.
(With inputs from PTI)
