West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said it is not acceptable if the poll panel in the name of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) strike off the voters’ right and alleged that the ECI officials were “threatening” her government officials under political pressure.
She also accused the BJP of playing with fire and said in the guise of SIR, the NRC (National Register of Citizens) were being done.
She said two persons in Nadia received such an NRC notice from the Assam government and questioned how other states could interfere with the affairs of West Bengal.
Banerjee told a media conference at the state secretariat Nabanna that some ECI officers were holding meetings without any representative from the state government and accused the state chief electoral officer of “overdoing”.
“The CEO must not overdo as I know his record,” the chief minister warned.
“He (CEO) is accused of corruption and there is a conspiracy to cut votes under the pretext of SIR. I have the evidence,” Banerjee told the reporters and said he must not overreact. “I hope he will not betray the country and democracy,” the CM said.
She also questioned the timing of SIR when the state was having a natural calamity, and thousands of people had been displaced and their belongings lost in the floods and landslides. Besides, many people were out of station due to the festive months.
Banerjee also questioned how it could be possible to complete SIR within two months and accused the BJP of influencing the revision.
She also asked how a central minister belonging to the BJP declared that some 1.5 crore voter names were to be deleted from the electoral rolls and warned the saffron party not to play with fire or else they will be engulfed in the blaze.
Banerjee reiterated that it is not acceptable if any voters’ rights were snatched away in the name of SIR as Bengal has many communities across the state.
Questioning the ECI activity, Banerjee asked how the poll panel summoned state government officers before the poll schedule was declared.
She said the election dates have not been announced for Bengal. “Then how can the ECI officials visit the state and direct the state government officers for SIR preparedness?”
A team of the Election Commission of India led by Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti, yesterday held a video conference with the District Election Officer-District Magistrates of the districts of South Bengal.
The Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal, Manoj Agrawal, was also present in the meeting. Electoral Registration Officers of the districts concerned also attended the video conference.
The team also visited some assembly constituencies in North 24 Parganas district to meet electoral officials and Booth Level Officers (BLOs). They also went to Kolaghat of Purba Medinipur district today and met BLOs of Purba Medinipur, Jhargram and Bankura districts.
