Abhishek questions SIR deletion figures; Mamata to sit on dharna next week

“Between January 19 and the final release, Form 7 (deletion) numbers jumped from 41,961 to over 5.46 lakh. How did these additional 5 lakh get added? This is ‘Silent Invisible Rigging’,” he stated.

The TMC accused the ECI of acting as an “auxiliary body of the BJP,” claiming the “logical discrepancy” category was manufactured to meet deletion targets.

Banerjee referred to earlier remarks by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Leader of Opposition Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, former BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar and Union minister Shantanu Thakur on large-scale deletions from the rolls. “Even before the commencement of SIR, these leaders had said that 1 crore to 1.2 crore voters will be deleted. They had fixed a target. The Election Commission is acting accordingly,” he alleged.

He said that combined with the 60,06,675 voters currently marked “under adjudication,” the total affected population reaches 1.2 crore — matching targets previously suggested by Adhikari and Thakur.

Abhishek Banerjee provided district-level data to support significant voters under adjudication: Malda 8.5 lakh voters, (40%), Uttar Dinajpur 4.8 lakh voters, (30%), and Murshidabad 11.01 lakh voters, (20%).

In Malda’s Sujapur, nearly 90% of the electorate (1.34 lakh voters) is reportedly under adjudication.

He further alleged that the BJP is trying to take away voting rights of people who don’t vote for them.

To illustrate the “absurdity” of the SIR, Abhishek Banerjee pointed out that several prominent figures have had their voting status put “under adjudication”, including: “Richa Ghosh, a World Cup–winning Indian woman cricketer, has been placed under the adjudication category. Is this a “minor” issue for Manoj Agarwal, CEO, West Bengal? Is the World Cup trophy under adjudication as well? Notices were sent to Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen. Md Shami was sent a hearing notice. Dr Shashi Panja, a minister in the state government, found her name under adjudication. Chief Secretary of West Bengal Nandini Chakraborty’s name is also under adjudication. BJP is trying to take away the voting rights of people who have lived in Bengal for generations simply because they do not vote for BJP,” the TMC MP from Diamond Harbour said.

Questioning the transparency of the exercise, Banerjee asked why the EC has not published data on how many “Rohingyas and Bangladeshis” were detected during the revision, amid repeated allegations by BJP leaders about illegal infiltrators altering the state’s demography. “If the entire exercise was meant to identify infiltrators, why is the EC not publishing how many Rohingyas and Bangladeshis have been found?” he asked.

The TMC, meanwhile, has instructed workers to assist affected citizens in filing appeals and Form 6 applications. “BJP wants to delay elections because it knows defeat is inevitable,” Abhishek said, adding, “Their plan has failed in court and will fail in the people’s court as well.”

— WITH PTI