The ruling TMC in West Bengal took out protest rallies in several districts on Sunday, demanding the inclusion of all eligible voters in the electoral rolls to be published after the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in the state.
State Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, leading a rally in south Kolkata on the occasion of National Voters’ Day, alleged that the Supreme Court’s directions on the publication of logical discrepancies’ list was not yet fully complied with by the Election Commission.
“There is a conspiracy to keep out a large number of people from exercising their franchise in the coming assembly elections in the state,” she claimed.
An EC official had earlier said that the poll panel on Saturday evening uploaded on its website the names of those on the SIR logical discrepancies’ list, following a Supreme Court order.
The district electoral officers would download the list and display it on panchayat bhavans and block offices as directed by the court, he said.
The top court had on January 19 directed the EC to display the names of those on the logical discrepancies’ list at gram panchayat bhavans, block offices of talukas and ward offices in West Bengal by Saturday.
“The EC and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar are doing the bidding for the BJP,” TMC MLA Saukat Molla alleged, reiterating the claim made by Bhattacharya.
“The protest is against the Commission and the BJP for their role in this,” Molla said, leading a rally in Canning in South 24 Parganas district. The TMC MLA also claimed that more than 130 people have died by suicide in Bengal due to anxiety over the ongoing SIR exercise.
TMC holds protest rallies in various parts of Bengal on National Voters’ Day
Kolkata, Jan 25 (PTI)