Deleted names in focus, Didi to address TMC BLAs on Mon

Kolkata: As Bengal steps into the second phase of SIR, with a 7.6-crore voter list already trimmed by 58.1 lakh, CM Mamata Banerjee is expected to address TMC's booth level agents (BLAs) in Netaji Indoor Stadium next Monday. BLAs are the point persons of political parties in the SIR process and will now play a key role in fresh voter applications and hearings.

A TMC senior said: "The CM wants to ensure that not even one genuine voter misses out and thus wants workers to see that BLAs reach out to all voters who may need help." On Tuesday, Banerjee held a meeting with the BLAs of Bhowanipore — her assembly segment. SIR has led to the deletion of as many as 44,787 electors in the constituency. The CM asked BLAs to reverify "absentee" and "dead" voters.




Meanwhile, speaking to reporters at Kolkata airport, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said on SIR: "The electoral roll that has been released is only a draft. There will still be around 45 days for claims and objections, and the final roll will be released on Feb 14. There is no reason to treat this as final." He added, "There is a 1.5% to 2% deletion every time the annual special summary revision (SSR) is conducted. The 24 lakh identified as "dead" roughly amount to merely 2% of the population. The no-mapping cases will be raised during the claims and objections period, followed by hearings, and only then, it will be decided whether the names stay or are removed."

Attacking BJP on its infiltration and Rohingya narrative, Abhishek said: "Those who maligned Bengal by calling it a hub of infiltrators and made claims of 1 to 1.5 crore Rohingya staying here have effectively had their claims rejected by the Election Commission. The real motive of BJP to conduct SIR in Bengal has completely failed. Now, those who insulted Bengal by calling the state a breeding ground for Bangladeshis should publicly apologize to the people of Bengal."

Daring BJP, Abhishek said: "If you have courage, write a letter to EC and ask it to make public the list of voters whose names have been deleted. Names deleted in border areas should also be published. You have misled people, and people will give an answer."

He added, "Let us assume infiltrators have entered Bengal... but how are terrorists entering the national capital? How are blasts taking place there? How are terrorists crossing the border in Pahalgam?"