Those deleted from rolls 'anti-nationals', says Bengal BJP neta

KHARAGPUR: All 90.8 lakh people whose names have been struck off Bengal's electoral rolls are "anti-nationals", former state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said in Kharagpur late Thursday, challenging Trinamool Congress to repeat its electoral success without "fake voters".

"The bell is tolling. Pishi-Bhaipo duo (Mamata Banerjee and nephew, MP Abhishek Banerjee) is changing their tune," BJP's Kharagpur Town candidate said while campaigning in Talbagicha, a Hindu refugee colony established in the 1950s.





"EC has pumped out all the extra water. While 90 lakh are gone, another 10-12-15 lakh will follow. It is because of these fake voters that Mamata Banerjee became CM thrice. CPM stayed in office 34 years the same way. These anti-nationals have finally been ousted."

More than 57,000 out of the 2.3 lakh voters in Kharagpur Town constituency are among those whose names have been deleted after multiple rounds of scrutiny, including post-SIR judicial adjudication.

Ghosh's "anti-national" charge came within 24 hours of acknowledging that the names of some genuine voters had been unfairly removed during the supplementary intensive revision exercise. This was when a group of women stopped him on the campaign trail to question why their names had been knocked off the list.

Ghosh's election opponent, Trinamool's Pradeep Sarkar, latched onto his controversial remark. "Dilipbabu's statement reveals the true character of BJP. Is he calling the 57 lakh Hindus excluded from the list traitors and 'anti-nationals'?