A 10-member delegation of West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress has reached Election Commission (ECI) office in Delhi for a meeting. On Friday morning (November 28), a 10-member team from Kolkata led by Derek O’Brien went to the Commission office for a meeting.
Last week, Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee had announced that his party members will be heading to Delhi to protest against SIR. On Friday, a 10-member delegation reached the Election Commission office in Delhi to meet the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. This 10-member team includes Derek O’Brien, Kalyan Banerjee, Shatabdi Roy, Dola Sen, Mahua Maitra, Prakash Chik Barik, Sajda Ahmed, Mamatabala Thakur, Pratima Mandal and Saket Gokhale.
The ruling party has been protesting against SIR ever since Election Commission had been prepping to start the exercise in West Bengal in October this year. Even West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Supremo Mamata Banerjee recently wrote a letter to CEC Gyanesh Kumar urging him to halt SIR in the state.
Mamata Banerjee’s letter to CEC Gyanesh Kumar
Citing the plight of BLOs and inadequate infrastructure, the Chief Minister said that it is not possible to complete such an important process within the specified time. There will be a possibility of mistakes. The common man will be the victim, the administrative head also mentioned in the letter.
Chief Minister further wrote that by not cooperating with the state in this situation or not extending the SIR deadline, the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO’s) office in Kolkata is showing ‘fear’. BLOs are being sued and they are also being warned with “strict action” alleged the CM. Mamata Banerjee claimed that the Election Commission refuses to understand the ground reality.
“Instead of offering support, extending timelines or addressing systemic flaws, the office of the CEO in West Bengal has resorted to intimidation. Showcause notices are being issued without justification,” the CM wrote.
BJP alleges ‘serious irregularities’ in SIR in West Bengal
Meanwhile, a BJP delegation met officials of the Election Commission earlier this week and alleged serious irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal. The delegation included West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya, the party’s IT department head Amit Malviya, MPs Khagen Murmu and Jagannath Sarkar, and its national coordinator for election matters Om Pathak. The BJP alleged that large-scale manipulation of voter rolls was taking place in the state and urged the Election Commission to intervene urgently.
Amit Malviya alleged that the state administration and workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress were pressuring Booth Level Officers (BLOs). He said the mandatory honorarium of Rs 18,000 due to BLOs had not been released and that the state had not appointed Data Entry Operators, increasing BLOs’ workload and paralysing the review process. He also alleged that Trinamool workers were pressuring BLOs and trying to take the enumeration forms so that they could fill them themselves.