WB Opposition Criticises Mamata Banerjee, BJP Over Controversial SIR of Electoral Rolls
WB opposition parties blame Mamata Banerjee alongside BJP for alleged voter deletion flaws in SIR.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been leading protests against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, claiming that the exercise could result in the removal of 1.2 crore voters from the state’s electoral list. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief has repeatedly alleged that genuine voter names are being deleted, raising concerns over potential manipulation ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.
While the state BJP unit dismissed Mamata Banerjee’s claims as “unfounded,” attributing them to fears of electoral defeat, other opposition parties, including the Congress and CPI-M, have held both the ruling party and the BJP responsible for politicising the SIR process. They accused both sides of creating fear and building a narrative around a constitutional exercise.
State Congress leader Roahan Mitra said, “First it was Suvendu Adhikari, who claimed two crore names would be removed after SIR; now the Chief Minister is claiming 1.2 crore. Mamata Banerjee is implying the exclusion of Muslim voters based on this figure.” He added that the political narrative generated by both parties has endangered public safety, citing the deaths of innocent people during the SIR exercise. The Congress staged a sit-in on Friday outside the state chief electoral office in Kolkata to protest alleged flaws in the SIR process.
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Former West Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh countered by claiming that Mamata Banerjee’s concern over the SIR reflects her fear of losing elections, noting that the TMC has previously benefited from duplicate or “fake” voter names. “It is her admission that large numbers of duplicate voters were earlier included to help the party win,” Ghosh said.
Meanwhile, CPI-M leader Sujan Chakraborty criticised Mamata Banerjee for allowing “outsiders” to participate in the SIR exercise, alleging they were unfamiliar with local customs and reliant on AI to verify voter credentials. He claimed this could lead to misidentification of genuine Bengali-speaking Indian Muslims versus alleged Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. He also maintained that the ruling party has historically benefited from votes cast by “ghost” voters.
The controversy escalated after Mamata Banerjee addressed a Jain community event in Kolkata, stating that she was “saddened” by the deletions. She noted that 58 lakh names were initially removed for being absent, shifted, deceased, or repeated, and alleged that a new rule termed “logical discrepancy” had led to the removal of an additional 80 lakh names. She warned that even if 20 lakh of these were deceased, around 1.2 crore genuine voters could still be affected, fueling her ongoing criticism of the SIR process.
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