West Bengal: TMC marks National Voters’ Day with rallies against SIR, targets ECI

Kolkata: West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) marked National Voters’ Day on Sunday by holding rallies against the rules of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll, as chief minister Mamata Banerjee attacked the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on social media.

“Election Commission of India is celebrating National Voters’ Day today, and what a tragic farce that is! The Commission — working as His Master’s Voice — is busy now in snatching away people’s voting rights, and they have the temerity to celebrate Voters’ Day! I am deeply distressed and disturbed by their conduct today,” Banerjee wrote in a post.

“Instead of complying with the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s verdict and working as per rules and norms to provide and protect the democratic voting rights of people, ECI is finding newer and newer pretexts in the name of logical discrepancy to harass the people and try to deny them and take away from them their electoral rights! On behalf of BJP, their Master, they are busy in bulldozing the Opposition and destroying the foundation of Indian democracy, and yet they have the guts to celebrate Voters’ Day!!” Banerjee added.

State industries and commerce minister Shashi Panja, who went to a hearing centre in her Shyampukur constituency in Kolkata on Sunday, responded to a hearing notice sent by the Election Commission of India (ECI). “The notice said my name did not figure in the 2002 voters’ list although I was very much a voter at that time. They did not summon my husband or my two daughters. I submitted all documents listed by ECI as proof of evidence but they are now asking for a copy of my passport,” she said.

“If ECI’s software is flawed then they should rectify it. Why are they harassing people in the name of errors and logistical discrepancy?” she added.

Officials at the hearing centre did not comment on Panja’s allegation.

BJP state unit president Samik Bhattacharya alleged that TMC used booth-level officers (BLOs) to introduce errors in the data they collected. “It is not surprising that her (Panja’s) documents have flaws. TMC used BLOs to introduce errors so that it could target the SIR process,” Bhattacharya said.

As directed by the Supreme Court, the ECI on Sunday started displaying the lists of voters whose data shows logical discrepancy or who could not be mapped. The lists were displayed at block development and panchayat offices.

Summoned next week for a similar reason, TMC’s social media cell head Debangshu Bhattacharya alleged that the ECI has used artificial intelligence (AI) to track social media profiles of voters to detect their political affiliation. “They are using AI to track social media profiles of citizens. Especially those having links with TMC are being summoned,” Bhattacharya said.

Minister of state for finance Chandrima Bhattacharya, who was leading one of the protest rallies on Sunday, alleged that the ECI was deliberately deleting the names of genuine voters and that women — for whom the chief minister rolled out several welfare schemes over the years — were being specifically targeted.

“There are deliberate attempts to delete names and women are being targeted more,” Bhattacharya said while leading a rally by women TMC workers in south Kolkata.

Meanwhile, Dibyendu Garai, a micro-observer involved in the SIR in South Dinajpur district’s Kumarganj, lodged a complaint alleging that he was assaulted while on duty on Saturday.

A district official said the ECI has directed the local block development officer (BDO) to file a report on the alleged incident.

Samik Bhattacharya accused the TMC of assaulting Garai for doing his duty, but the ruling party denied the allegation.

“There is no proof of the TMC’s involvement. Nobody has the right to assault an officer involved in SIR, but people must also think why there is such resentment against it,” TMC spokesperson Arup Chakraborty told the local media.