Bengal LoP alleges bid to retain dead voters in rolls; TMC says valid documents needed for deletion

Kolkata: Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Tuesday accused the state administration of attempting to retain the names of deceased voters in the electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), alleging a coordinated effort involving officials and local strongmen.

In a post on X, Adhikari claimed that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, "foreseeing bad signs" due to SIR, was trying to ensure that "dead voters' names were not deleted so that those votes could be misused during elections".

He shared an audio clip of a booth-level officer (BLO) from Falta in South 24 Parganas district, asserting that the BLOs had complained that senior officials were instructing them not to delete the names of deceased persons without death certificates.

According to Adhikari, the BLO, in the audio, allegedly claimed that the Falta BDO and ARO had called all BLOs on Sunday and directed them not to remove the names even if family members had submitted signed declarations confirming death.

He further alleged that BLOs were being told not to upload the declaration forms and instead leave such cases "unmapped", enabling scope for manipulation later.

Adhikari also alleged that local musclemen were threatening families "not to hand over death certificates to BLOs", suggesting an organised attempt to keep deceased voters on the rolls.

PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the audio clip.

"The game is very clear. Using BDOs and AROs along with hired goons, there is a covert attempt to retain dead voters in the rolls," he alleged.

Urging BLOs and people not to succumb to pressure, he said, "Do not be scared. Help the Election Commission and follow the law. As for the TMC-aligned BDOs and AROs, be careful, or you will face consequences."

Stating that the BJP was keeping a close watch on the developments, Adhikari appealed to the Election Commission to take the allegations seriously and initiate immediate action against the officials concerned.

Reacting to Adhikari's remarks, TMC state vice president and spokesperson Jay Prakash Majumdar dismissed the allegations, saying that the BJP leader was "politicising the matter without knowing the rules".

"No voter's name can be deleted without a valid death certificate. It cannot be deleted on the basis of a mere signature of any relative," Majumdar said, adding that the SIR process was being followed as per the Election Commission's guidelines.