E-Paper
Ensure people are not harassed over electoral rolls revision in Bengal: Mamata Banerjee to BLOs
Banerjee accused the BJP and ECI of conspiring to implement the NRC “through the backdoor” and unleashing “linguistic terror” on Bengali-speaking migrants
KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday asked Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who are presently undergoing training for summary revision by the Election Commission of India, to ensure that names of voters are not arbitrarily struck off from the electoral roll and people are not harassed in the name of revising the rolls.
“The ECI takes over only after the poll dates are announced. Until then, and even after that, the administration lies with the state government. You are employees of the state government. Do not harass any individual needlessly,” the chief minister said, addressing an administrative meeting in Birbhum district.
The Trinamool Congress supremo later also attacked the BJP over the deletion of names from the voters’ list.
“The (voters’) list is being prepared by people sitting in Gujarat. An agency of the BJP is doing this. I know its name. You will see chhau dance (a tribal dance) and face the music of drums and conch shells if you dare to strike off names from the voters’ list in Bengal. I won’t allow the NRC to be implemented and set up detention camps till I am alive,” Banerjee said while addressing a protest rally.
The protest comes amid concerns that a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, currently being held in neighbouring poll-bound Bihar, could also be held in West Bengal.
In her message to the BLOs, Banerjee said, “I am not going into the details as the matter is scheduled to be heard today in the (Supreme) court. But ensure that the people are not harassed. A person may not be present in his residence and he may have gone on a vacation for four days. Will you delete his name for that? You have to check whether the person exists or not”.
At Monday’s hearing, the Supreme Court refused to stop the ECI from publishing the draft electoral rolls for Bihar on August 1 as per the schedule notified for the SIR. The apex court also said that instead of en masse exclusion, there should be en masse inclusion.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked Banerjee for her statements, alleging that it was a veiled threat to the BLOs and a blatant attempt to interfere with the democratic process and undermine the sanctity of free and fair elections. The party sought the intervention of the poll panel.
“By openly reminding Booth Level Officers (BLOs) that they are “State Government Employees” and warning them against following the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) directives, she is indirectly threatening those responsible for ensuring a transparent electoral process. This is a clear-cut case of unauthorized intervention and manipulation of the election process,” Adhikari said in a post on X.
“I urge the ECI to take immediate cognizance of this matter and investigate Mamata Banerjee’s statements for their potential to disrupt the democratic process,” he wrote.
Adhikari also alleged that there has been a sudden surge in applications to enrol new voters in some districts of West Bengal that share a border with Bangladesh. This, he alleged, coincided with a directive from the state administration to district-level officers to issue a large number of domicile certificates
“A disturbing trend has emerged in West Bengal’s border districts. Over 70,000 Form-6 applications have been submitted on average in the last week, a sharp rise from the usual 20,000-25,000. This surge, coupled with reports of Domicile Certificates being issued by the West Bengal Administration, raises serious concerns about the State Govt’s unethical and illegal efforts in order to facilitate the legitimising of the infiltrating Rohingya Muslims and illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, with the aim to manipulate our Voter Lists,” he said.
HT spoke to senior officials of some districts including Murshidabad, Jalpaiguri, Malda, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and South 24 Parganas. All of them rejected the allegations, saying that there were no such trends.
The CM also said that the government would launch a scheme to support migrant workers who want to return to the state in the face of alleged harassment in other states.
“Dalits and Scheduled Caste are facing harassment. We have to stand with them. Launch a scheme for those who want to return. We will set up camps if they don’t have a place to live, provide them with ration cards and health scheme cards. We will enrol them under the Karmashree scheme to provide them wage employment,” she added.
