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Election Commission: The Election Commission’s announcement of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter list in West Bengal has sparked political turmoil.
Election Commission: The Election Commission’s announcement of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter list in West Bengal has sparked political turmoil. The ruling Trinamool Congress has expressed apprehension that an attempt may be made to remove names of eligible voters at the behest of the BJP, while the saffron party said no illegal voter will be spared. Expressing sharp reaction to the Election Commission’s move, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that the party will democratically oppose any attempt to remove genuine voters from the list. Ghosh said that if an attempt is made to remove the name of any eligible voter, protests will be held. We have no problem with voter list amendment, but if in its name someone tries to remove the name of any eligible voter at the behest of BJP, we will protest democratically. He urged people to remain calm and not fall into the trap of BJP.
Urge not to fall into BJP’s trap
He said that we urge everyone to remain calm and not fall into the trap of BJP. Just remember that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee are with the people of West Bengal. However, the BJP welcomed the Election Commission’s move and called it a necessary step to weed out illegal voters. Senior BJP leader and leader of opposition in the state assembly Subhendu Adhikari said that no illegal voter will be spared. Those who are legitimate voters have no need to fear. But the infiltrators, who are the vote bank of TMC, will be thrown out. The Election Commission on Monday announced that the second phase of special intensive revision of voter lists in 12 states and union territories, including West Bengal, will begin from November 4.
Counting process will start from November 4
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said that the purpose of this process is to ensure that no eligible voter is left out and no ineligible voter is included in the list. He said that 51 crore voters will participate in the second phase. The counting process will begin on November 4, while the draft voter list will be published on December 9 and the final voter list on February 7. The 12 states and union territories where this process will take place are Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Of these, elections will be held in four states Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal next year. Kumar clarified that in Assam, the SIR will be announced separately. The ongoing SIR is the ninth such exercise since independence, the previous one taking place between 2002 and 2004. It is noteworthy that the last time SIR was conducted in West Bengal was in 2002.
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