E-Paper
TMC alleges ‘software-intensive rigging’ in voter roll revision
A demand raised by the TMC was the release of transcripts of meetings held between opposition parties and the Election Commission on November 20 and Dec 31.
The All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday intensified its attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls had turned into a “software-intensive rigging exercise” aimed at disenfranchising genuine voters, with West Bengal as its primary target.
Addressing a press conference in the national Capital, TMC MPs Derek O’Brien, Sagarika Ghose and Saket Gokhale said the revision process was being conducted in a non-transparent, hurried and insensitive manner, causing widespread hardship to voters across rural and urban areas.
“People are running from pillar to post. The elderly, villagers, daily-wage workers — everyone is facing difficulties and there is no help on the ground,” O’Brien said.
“What is being described as a Special Intensive Revision is, in reality, becoming a software-intensive revision”, he said.
According to the party, voters were flagged for minor variations such as differences in the spelling of parents’ names or discrepancies in recorded ages.
“What is this ‘logical discrepancy’?” Ghose asked.
The MPs said the Supreme Court had emphasised that such discrepancy lists must be fully explained and clarified, but alleged that voters whose names appeared on the list were receiving little or no assistance.
Also Read: Special camps for pre-SIR mapping in East Singhbhum
“Instead of helping people, they are being harassed, dragged from one office to another,” O’Brien said, calling for the exercise to be conducted “humanely and transparently”.
A demand raised by the TMC was the release of transcripts of meetings held between opposition parties and the Election Commission on November 20 and December 31.
“We have been asking for transparency for over 50 days,” O’Brien said. “Release the six hours of transcripts. Let the country see what was said and what assurances, if any, were given.”
Gokhale said the party’s leadership, including TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, had repeatedly written to the ECI with constructive suggestions.
“One of the letters even carried a handwritten postscript saying, ‘We know you will not reply’,” he said, calling it a reflection of the Commission’s “studied silence”.
The TMC alleged that while the SIR was first carried out in Bihar, its real focus had shifted to Bengal.
“From the beginning, the real target was Bengal,” Ghose said.
The party stressed that it was not opposed to removing fake or ineligible voters from the rolls.
“Those who are not citizens should be removed,” Ghose said.
The Election Commission has maintained that the SIR is a routine administrative exercise to improve the accuracy of electoral rolls.
The ECI has not responded to the specific allegations made by the TMC and the copy will be updated whenever it is received.
