A massive political battle is exploding in poll-bound West Bengal. And then the spark is the publication of the state’s draft voter list, which deleted a stunning 58 lakh names after a verification drive.
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The Election Commission completed the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The sheer number of deletions is what’s causing the storm.
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The Deletion Breakdown
Out of the 5.8 million names removed from the draft electoral roll, the reasons cited are:
24 lakh names marked as “dead.”
19 lakh names marked as “relocated” (shifted permanently).
12 lakh names marked as “missing” (untraceable).
1.3 lakh names marked as “duplicate” or fake entries.
The thing is, this whole SIR exercise—which was last done in Bengal back in 2002—was intended to weed out errors and duplication, but the political fallout is immediate and severe.
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Political War: TMC vs. BJP
The publication of the draft list is only going to intensify the existing uproar over the SIR process.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) Stance: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the ruling TMC have flat-out opposed the exercise.
TMC MP Saugata Roy called the deletion of 58 lakh names “injustice,” claiming it’s a “BJP conspiracy to remove legitimate voters from Bengal’s list.”
Banerjee previously told people to “hit the streets” if their names were deleted, urging “mothers and sisters” to fight on the front lines against what she calls an attempt to “snatch the rights of mothers and sisters in the name of SIR.”
The TMC also previously slammed the Election Commission amid reports of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) dying by suicide due to work pressure, saying the poll body had “blood on its hands.”
BJP Stance: The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been quick to defend the revision.
Here’s the kicker: Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that Banerjee’s offensive is aimed at protecting her “vote bank” that includes “illegal immigrants.” He claims the TMC is panicking because the deceased, fake, and illegal voters are finally being removed.
The final voter list is set to be published in February next year. This will happen right before the expected announcement of the Assembly polls. Those who believe their names were wrongly excluded can now raise objections and request corrections.
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