Won’t comment on SIR list now, more names can be deleted: BJP netas

Kolkata: Bengal BJP, even while refraining from directly commenting on the deletion of names following the publication of SIR rolls on Saturday, hinted at the exclusion of more names after the verification of claims and objections.

"We had demanded that the final roll be prepared only after Form 7s, most of which our workers could not submit, were deposited. We cannot comment until that process is over," said Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya. "The Election Commission is duty-bound to come out with an error-free electoral roll, and we have faith in it," he added.


Junior Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said there was no room for "speculation" until the final list was published. "There are two categories — one already approved by ECI and the others under adjudication. We will only get to know about the deletions after the process is over. Everything else is just speculation," he said. However, he added that "false votes in the name of dead electors cannot be cast any more".

Leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari, meanwhile, chose to comment on the rolls of Bhowanipore — the constituency represented by CM Mamata Banerjee. "Nearly 47,000 names have been deleted from Bhowanipore. More than 14,500 names are under scrutiny. SIR has cleansed the electoral roll at Bhowanipore."

"The names under adjudication will be scrutinised seriously by the judicial officers. They are never influenced," Adhikari said.

Amid concerns over large-scale deletion of names of Matua voters, junior Union minister Santanu Thakur said that those who came to India from Bangladesh before Dec 31, 2024, due to religious persecution will get Indian citizenship. "They will not be deported and will stay here. However, deletion of names falls under the purview of EC and we cannot comment on that," Thakur said.