Kolkata, April 8: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists on Tuesday. She accused the commission of bias, claiming that it did not spare members of various religious and charitable organizations during this process.
Banerjee addressed three election rallies in Nadia and North 24 Parganas districts. In her speeches, she specifically mentioned the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda, and the Missionaries of Charity established by Mother Teresa.
She expressed her dismay that 300 individuals associated with the Missionaries of Charity had their names removed from the voter list during the SIR. “Even the monks of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission were not spared,” she stated.
According to the Chief Minister, the ECI particularly targeted districts with significant populations of minorities and socially backward communities, resulting in the highest number of name removals from these areas. Districts such as Malda, Murshidabad, North Dinajpur, South 24 Parganas, and Nadia saw the most significant deletions. In the Banagao sub-division of North 24 Parganas, members of the Matua community were specifically targeted.
She highlighted that large numbers of names were removed from areas like Chakdaha and Harinaghatta in Nadia, as well as Gaighata in North 24 Parganas.
Banerjee also accused the Communist Party of India (Marxist) of secretly colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on several assembly seats. She claimed that CPI(M) leaders knew they would not win, so they aimed to split anti-BJP votes to ensure BJP’s victory. Despite their clear defeat in the 2021 assembly elections, CPI(M) leaders continue to make grand statements, and she insisted they should be completely wiped out this time.
The Trinamool Congress, she assured, would provide all necessary assistance to voters whose names were removed from the lists, enabling them to reclaim their voting rights through the appellate tribunal established for this purpose. She asserted that the BJP and the commission’s sole aim was to selectively remove voters’ names, a tactic she vowed would not succeed.
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