After meeting poll panel, TMC's Abhishek Banerjee says 'aggressive' CEC failed to answer queries on SIR

Bengal CEO dismisses allegations made in police complaints against poll body officials

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee hit out at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying he failed to address their concerns on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal and was "aggressive" towards them, after a party delegation met the poll body in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Election Commission (EC) officials said the TMC delegation was told that intimidation of any electoral staff by ground-level political representatives and workers would not be tolerated and that the West Bengal government should immediately release the enhanced honorarium to each BLO.

Later in evening, TMC sources said if the CEC writes to the Union Finance Minister requesting to release West Bengal's Rs 2 lakh crore funds allegedly blocked by the Centre, the AITC-led government will pay Rs 50,000 honorarium to BLOs, according to news agency PTI.

"If they were so concerned for BLOs and people, they should have at least released a statement and provided assistance to the bereaved families of BLOs who died due to unplanned SIR and the unrealistic work pressure imposed by them," the TMC source said.

Earlier, lashing out at the EC, Banerjee said his party would not accept the final voter list if it had "discrepancies". "We would fight it legally," he said, briefing the media after a 10-member TMC delegation met the full bench of the EC over the SIR of electoral rolls in West Bengal.

Banerjee said they raised several concerns around the draft voter list with the EC, including the summoning of 1.36 crore voters, during the over two-hour meeting, but did not get any concrete answer.

The TMC national general secretary claimed that CEC Kumar was "aggressive" during the meeting. "When we started talking, he (CEC) started losing his temper... I said you are nominated, I am elected... If he has the guts, he should release the footage... if he has the courage... he should face the media and rebut whatever point I am making...," he said.

"Apart from two-three basic questions, he failed to answer any of the questions we raised... Queries on the SIR were repeatedly diverted to  citizenship issues, while questions on deletions were met with procedural responses such as filling Form 7, without any concrete explanation," Banerjee said.

Banerjee alleged that "vote chori" (vote theft) in elections was happening through the voter list and not through EVMs, and claimed that States such as Maharashtra, Haryana and Bihar could have been won by Opposition parties if they had aggressively raised the issue.

The top TMC leader claimed there was a "conspiracy to malign" West Bengal by raising the "bogey of infiltration", and challenged the poll authority to come out with the list of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas among the 58 lakh voters whose names have been deleted in the draft electoral roll.

He also questioned the EC's move to retroactively introduce a new category termed "logical discrepancies", summoning 1.36 crore voters for hearing on different grounds, including issues such as mismatch of father's name, questionable age gap between parents and children, among others.

Polling stations in high-rises

EC officials, meanwhile, said the TMC delegation was informed that polling stations would be set up in high-rise buildings, gated communities and slums to facilitate the voters.

The 10-member TMC delegation included its leader in Rajya Sabha, Derek O'Brien, MPs Saket Gokhale, Ritabrata Banerjee and Mamata Thakur, and Ministers from West Bengal, including Manas Bhunia, Pradip Mazumdar and Chandrima Bhattacharya.

Bengal CEO dismisses allegations against EC officials

In Kolkata, the office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Wednesday dismissed allegations made in police complaints against poll officials in connection with the ongoing SIR exercise, describing them as "premeditated and unsubstantiated".

In a statement, the CEO's office said it had taken note of various press releases indicating that police complaints have been filed against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and State CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal.

The CEO office's statement came after an 82-year-old man, identified as Durjan Majhi, died after allegedly jumping in front of a train in Purulia district on Monday. He was scheduled to appear for a hearing related to the SIR process at the office of the Para block development officer, officials said.

Durjan Majhi's son Kanai claimed Durjan was anxious after receiving a notice for the hearing, as his name did not figure in the draft voters' list. Kanai lodged a police complaint, holding Gyanesh Kumar and Manoj Kumar Agarwal responsible for his father's death.

The CEO office termed the allegations "crude attempt to browbeat officers" discharging statutory duties related to the SIR.

It said that the election machinery in the State remains committed to functioning with "grit and rectitude" in the public interest.

(With PTI inputs)