What’s to hide, asks Mamata, dares EC to publish suppl list

Kolkata/Pandabeswar: CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday dared the Election Commission to publish the supplementary voters' list and questioned whether the poll panel was trying to "hide" something.

"Why has the supplementary list not been made public yet? I challenge the person concerned. Why haven't you given the list even to journalists? Why are you not displaying the list? I have fought from the streets to the Supreme Court for this list. No political party has received it. What is being hidden?" Banerjee asked at a rally in Pandabeswar, West Burdwan.




Promising free legal aid on behalf of Trinamool at the tribunals, the CM asked party workers to go from "booth to booth" and identify those whose names have been struck off the rolls.

"I have heard that 40% of names under adjudication have been deleted while 60% have been retained. People whose names have been wrongfully deleted will have the chance to appeal before the tribunal as per the SC's verdict. I would urge party workers to get in touch with such people. They will be provided free legal help," she said.

Banerjee warned that the upcoming census might lead to more deletions. "They have conducted SIR. Now, they are planning to implement NRC and put people in detention camps. Today, your name might be on the voters' list. Tomorrow, it could be struck off during the census. As long as TMC is in office, we will not allow anyone to be sent to detention camps."

The CM claimed that this fight to ensure voting rights was akin to the battle between the Pandavas and Kauravas. "Our fight is against the Kauravas. We are the Pandavas," she said.

A couple of hours later, a three-member TMC delegation — including state ministers Chandrima Bhattacharya and Shashi Panja and party's Lok Sabha MP Bapi Haldar — met Bengal's chief electoral officer and sought the daily publication of supplementary rolls. They sought timeliness, consistency and complete transparency in roll revisions, including the disclosure of absolute numbers and category-wise data.

Bhattacharya said on March 23, the CEO said that 29 lakh cases had been cleared by judicial officers and would be reflected in the first supplementary roll to be released that night. However, the rolls released account for only 7.5 lakh voters.

At another rally in Birbhum's Dubrajpur, Banerjee claimed that "BJP is a washing machine with the power to make things vanish". "They have thrown voters into their washing machine to delete their names from the voters' list under the guise of SIR," she alleged.

Predicting that the BJP govt would fall by Sept, she said: "One-party rule will not be accepted. You [the EC] cannot act on the instructions of BJP. By Aug or Sept this year, the BJP govt in Delhi will fall. Then I will see what happens to those who are acting as BJP agents."

The CM also warned that the fuel crisis, managed by BJP, might spiral. "Before PM Modi came to office, a domestic cylinder cost Rs 400. Today, it is Rs 1,100. Are they planning another lockdown? If we could fight in that situation, we can combat any situation now," she said.

Banerjee reminded the audience that religion means humility and peace. "Everyone should be allowed to observe their faith peacefully. Shri Krishna said you can never form a fist with one finger, you need all five. This signifies unity among all religions," she said.

The CM also promised to reduce power costs. "Once Deocha-Pachami is operational, the price of electricity will drop. Power supply will not be an issue for the next 100 years. Deocha-Pachami is the second-largest coal mine in the world, and it will generate 1 lakh jobs," she said.

Finally, Banerjee reminded the crowd how the EC rejected several candidatures in Assam. "I will advise my candidates to be accompanied by lawyers so that no trouble can be manufactured," she said.

(With inputs from S Boral in Dubrajpur)