KOLKATA: After meeting with the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal, the BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Friday said that at
least one crore voters’ names will be deleted when the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is conducted in West Bengal.
It may be noted that the Election Commission of India has announced an SIR for West Bengal after successfully conducting a similar exercise in Bihar which goes to polls next month.
Adhikari said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been speaking out against the Bengal SIR as she is losing ground in the state. “She is losing the ground. About one crore names will be deleted. There have been 13 lakh deaths, Aadhaar Cards have been deactivated. Then there are 16 lakh double-triple entries, which we have proved. So, 29 lakh voter names will be deleted on the very first day of the SIR,” the former TMC leader claimed.
He added, “There are Bangladeshi Muslims, Rohingyas and fake voters. In total, there will be at least one crore deletions in Bengal when 65 lakh names have been removed in Bihar.”
Mamata had earlier criticised the SIR exercise in Bengal, alleging that EC officials were “threatening” her government officials and “acting under political
influence” despite the fact that elections here are months away and dates have not been announced yet.
It may be mentioned that chief minister said that she will not tolerate such a situation, the Trinamool Congress chief accused the Opposition BJP of “playing with fire” in the name of SIR.
“There are attempts to conduct a National
Register of Citizens (NRC) in the garb of SIR in the state,” she alleged.
“This SIR is not what it appears. It is being used as a cover to carry out an NRC-type process in West Bengal,” the CM added.
The Election Commission, meanwhile, has sought to assure that no valid voter’s name will be deleted from the electoral rolls during SIR.