Adhikari Blames Mamata Banerjee for 27 Lakh Deletions in Bengal SIR
Suvendu Adhikari says the BJP and Election Commission are not responsible for the 27 lakh names deleted during West Bengal's SIR exercise.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday placed the blame for the deletion of 27 lakh names from the state's electoral rolls squarely on former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying neither the BJP nor the Election Commission could be held accountable for the exclusions during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Speaking at a press conference, Adhikari said the deletions were carried out by judicial officers acting on directions of the Supreme Court in a case filed by Banerjee herself. He accused her of trying to shift responsibility after losing the Assembly elections.
"The responsibility for the deletion of 27 lakh names lies with Mamata Banerjee, not the BJP or the Election Commission. Judicial officers took the decision following the Supreme Court's directions in a case filed by her," he said.
The remarks come amid a renewed political confrontation over the SIR exercise, with Banerjee's party alleging that genuine voters were removed from the rolls and demanding their restoration.
Adhikari sought to frame the SIR dispute as a question of electoral accountability, accusing Banerjee of refusing to accept the mandate of the people. "If SIR is good in Kerala, why is it bad in West Bengal? We have won 208 seats, while the two sides (TMC and its allies) have 80. Mamata Banerjee is unable to accept the people's verdict," he said.
His comments followed a rally by Banerjee at Serampore a day earlier, where she renewed her attack on the Election Commission and the BJP over the voter-roll revision.
Adhikari also referred to Saturday's meeting of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, claiming that the meeting and the poll panel's subsequent statement showed that decisions relating to the Bengal SIR had not been taken by the CEC alone.
His assertion comes amid a controversy over the functioning of the three-member Election Commission after an investigation reported that the two election commissioners had raised objections on several occasions to decisions linked to the SIR exercise. The commission has maintained that differences in internal deliberations are normal and that its final decisions were unanimous.