Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], December 28 : A five-member delegation of the Trinamool Congress Party met the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal on Saturday.
In a post on X, TMC said, "The delegation made it clear that such tactics corrode public trust and shred the credibility of the electoral process in Bengal. We demanded that CEO-WB enforce statutory procedure without fear or favour and shield every eligible citizen from wrongful, engineered exclusion"
"We stand guard over Bengal's democratic rights. No force, no conspiracy, no BJP-ECI machinery will be allowed to erase the people's voice or their vote," the post added.
https://x.com/AITCofficial/status/2004875130271662345?s=20
West Bengal Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya told reporters a day earlier, "We are repeatedly saying that what is happening in West Bengal should not be happening... The power to dispose of Form 7 rests with the ERO, and you are taking that power away from them... This will not work; this is not lawful. We have said this. We have also noted that you are taking the power away and giving it to the DEO... That shouldn't happen either. You are violating the Representation of the People Act and the electoral rules... The hearing started today, but you are still not prepared... We have asked whether this data consultancy firm has some connection with the BJP because it's a private agency... What are you doing in the name of this survey? Has someone told you that you have to remove 1-2 crore voters from here? Is that why you are doing this?..."
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday called the Election Commission of India (ECI) a "WhatsApp Commission" and demanded that the constitutional body should apologise to the people of West Bengal, claiming that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive was to "harass" the state.
He also highlighted the reported deaths of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during the SIR exercise. The draft voters' list in West Bengal was published under SIR last week.
"During the SIR, 45 people lost their lives, and six were hospitalised. 29 BLOs (Booth Level Officers) attempted suicide. We asked the EC (Election Commission) five basic questions. But we didn't get a single answer from the EC. The EC told the media that they had given the answers," Banerjee said.