Suvendu claims Mamata responsible for deletion of 27 lakh names in Bengal SIR, not BJP or EC

Kolkata, Sep 27 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday blamed former CM Mamata Banerjee for the deletion of 27 lakh names from the state's electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision, asserting that neither the BJP nor the Election Commission could be held responsible for the exclusions.

Adhikari said the deletions were carried out by judicial officers pursuant to directions of the Supreme Court in a case filed by Banerjee herself, and accused her of attempting to shift the blame 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,” Adhikari said at a press conference here.

The chief minister's remarks came amid a renewed political confrontation over the SIR exercise, with Banerjee's party alleging that genuine voters had been removed from the electoral rolls and demanding their restoration.

Adhikari also sought to turn the political argument over the SIR into a wider question of electoral accountability, accusing Banerjee of refusing to accept the verdict of the electorate.

“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.

The chief minister's jibe came a day after Banerjee addressed a rally at Serampore and launched a fresh 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 two 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 against the backdrop of a controversy over the functioning of the three-member Election Commission after an Indian Express investigation reported that the two election commissioners had raised objections on several occasions to decisions linked to the SIR exercise.

The commission, however, has maintained that differences in internal deliberations are normal and that its final decisions were unanimous.