EC deleted 54 lakh 'genuine voters' in WB without giving them chance to defend themselves: Mamata

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged on Tuesday that the 54 lakh names, which were deleted from the draft rolls during the SIR in the state, were done unilaterally and by misusing powers of electoral registration officers (EROs). Banerjee alleged that a bulk of the deleted voters were "genuine electors", who were not allowed to defend themselves because they weren't even apprised of the grounds of deletion. "The EC, while sitting in Delhi, used AI tools devised by the BJP to delete names. These AI software accounted for the names mismatch in SIR data. They deleted names of women who changed surnames post marriage," Banerjee alleged, while addressing a press conference at the state secretariat Nabanna.

Claiming that 'logical discrepancy' was not part of the original SIR verification process, and that it was "included as an afterthought to add to deletions", Banerjee said that the "BJP-EC nexus" was planning to remove another one crore names from the final rolls. "The EC has not allowed BLA-2s to attend hearings because the BJP couldn't amass its workers to do the job," Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, said.