KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will stage a sit-in protest at Esplanade’s Metro Channel in the heart of Kolkata from March 6 against the final list of the post–Special Intensive Revision (SIR) electoral rolls in the state.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on February 28 published the final post-SIR list, deleting the names of 63.66 lakh voters. This includes more than 58 lakh absentees, shifted, dead and duplicate (ASDD) electors identified during the first phase of the SIR exercise, and another five lakh after the completion of the SIR hearings. The move has prompted the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Mamata Banerjee, to intensify its protest against the large-scale deletions.
Besides the 63.66 lakh deleted voters, more than 60 lakh electors under the “logical discrepancies” and “unmapped” categories have been marked as ‘under adjudication’ in the final list. They are awaiting clearance from judicial officers to retain their voting rights.
Following the Supreme Court’s intervention, judicial officers were tasked with deciding their fate. The 60 lakh voters include state Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty, minister Tajmul Hossain and TMC MLA Rafiqur Rahaman, who have been listed in the ‘under adjudication’ group.
Addressing reporters at a press conference at Trinamool Congress Bhaban on Sunday, party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee announced the protest programme.
“Mamata Banerjee has decided to organize a sit-in-demonstration programme at Metro Channel on 6 March. She may also announce programmes for coming days same day,” Abhishek said.
Abhishek, MP from Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas district, alleged that the names of a large number of legitimate voters had been removed from the list released by the Commission.
“Names of huge number of legal voters have been removed from list released illegally by the Commission and this exercise is hostile to the democratic fabric of the country,” he said.
The TMC leadership alleged that people were being deprived of their voting rights due to administrative negligence and motivated decisions by the national poll body.
According to the party, common people — particularly those from minority communities, migrant workers from the state and economically weaker sections — have been severely affected. The Chief Minister, they said, would take to the streets to intensify the protest against the SIR exercise.
The party has decided to demand that the Commission immediately restore the deleted names to the electoral rolls.
Mamata’s Bhowanipore Assembly constituency in south Kolkata recorded the deletion of 47,111 voters classified as dead, permanently shifted, absent or bogus. In addition, 14,154 voters in the constituency have been marked as ‘under adjudication’ and are awaiting judicial clearance.
In the first phase of the SIR exercise, Bhowanipore had recorded 44,787 ASDD voters.
The large-scale deletions in Bhowanipore, which has around 1.61 lakh electors, could pose a challenge for the Trinamool Congress supremo ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled for the end of April. In view of the situation, Mamata has already held several meetings with TMC leaders and Booth Level Agents (BLAs)-2 in her constituency.
The final list also revealed that no new voters were added in 99 of the 294 Assembly constituencies in Bengal.
For instance, constituencies such as Karimpur, Tehatta, Palasipara, Kaliganj, Ranaghat Uttar Paschim, Shantipur, Krishnaganj, Ranaghat Uttar Purba, Ranaghat Dakshin, Chakdaha, Kalyani and Haringhata in Nadia district recorded no new voters. No Form 6 applications seeking inclusion in the voters’ list were submitted in these constituencies.
Overall, the final list recorded more than 1.82 lakh new voters across the state.
