KOLKATA: The West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer’s office on Friday directed the District Magistrate (DM), who also serves as the District Election Officer (DEO) of South 24-Parganas, to submit a report following allegations by Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee regarding voters marked as ‘dead’ in the draft electoral rolls despite being alive.
Abhishek, the second-in-command in the state ruling party after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, highlighted the issue during a party programme in Baruipur. He paraded two men and a woman, Manirul Molla and Maya Das from Metiabruz, and Harekrishna Giri from Kakdwip, who had been incorrectly listed as deceased in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.
“These three people have been marked dead by the Election Commission in the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls,” Abhishek told the gathering at the Rano Sankalpa Sabha in Baruipur.
He further claimed, “These three persons are not the only ones affected. There are 24 such voters in South 24-Parganas. This is a conspiracy to deny the people of Bengal their right to vote.”
In response, Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal instructed the DEO of South 24-Parganas to conduct an inquiry and submit a report at the earliest.