E-Paper
Mamata files nomination, says TMC would move SC against electoral roll freeze
In February, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) would move the Supreme Court against the freezing of the electoral roll, as she filed her nomination from Kolkata’s Bhabanipur. She said the TMC would return to power.
“I am saddened. Several voters have been deleted. Around 3.2 million of the six million doubtful cases under adjudication were included in the voter list because I moved the Supreme Court,” Banerjee said.
She said the remaining 2.7 million should be given voting rights. She questioned what purpose it would serve if they were included after the April 23-29 elections. “They would not be able to vote.”
Banerjee noted that the Supreme Court said that voters, whose names are deleted, may move the appellate tribunals. “Why was the electoral roll frozen? I do not understand this. We will again move the court to seek justice,” she said.
In February, Banerjee moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll. She alleged that the Election Commission of India was unfairly targeting the state and “bulldozing” its citizens.
Banerjee, who became the first chief minister to argue her petition before the court, has repeatedly pointed out how around 44,000 voters were deleted from Bhabanipur. As many as 44,470 names were dropped in the draft roll. Another 2,342 names were deleted after hearings.
Bhabanipur is scheduled to go to the polls in the second and last phase of the polls on April 29. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Suvendu Adhikari against Banerjee in Bhabanipur. Adhikari, once a confidante of Banerjee, joined the BJP in December 2020 and defeated her in Nandigram in 2021.
