EC should conduct Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bengal: BJP's Suvendu

Kolkata: BJP MLA and leader of opposition in the West Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday welcomed the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar where assembly polls are due later this year, and said such an exercise should also be conducted in the Trinamool Congress-ruled state.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued instructions to carry out the exercise in Bihar to weed out ineligible names and ensure that all eligible citizens are included in the electoral roll, allowing them to exercise their franchise in the polls.

"This is a good step, and there will be transparency. Those illegal immigrants who have been enrolled in the electoral rolls in the country should be identified," he said.

"Those who have got this enrolment done through fake Aadhaar cards and identification cards should have their names struck off from the voter lists," the BJP leader said.

The Election Commission said on Friday that nearly 87 per cent of the 7.96 crore voters in Bihar have been provided with semi-filled enumeration forms for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

Adhikari had, on earlier occasions, alleged that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh had got themselves enrolled on voter lists in Bengal and demanded their identification and striking off their names from the electoral rolls.

"In Bengal, the Special Intensive Revision should be conducted. Rohingyas, who have obtained fake Aadhaar cards and birth certificates through illegal means, should be detected," he said.

Adhikari said that only Indian citizens should have their names in the electoral rolls of the country.

The assembly elections in West Bengal are due next year.

The INDIA bloc parties have been vocal in their opposition to the exercise of the Special Intensive Revision, which has already started in Bihar and is to be carried out in five more states -- Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal -- that are going to polls next year.

The LoP alleged that the Trinamool Congress would be "affected if illegal immigrant voters were found out and their names were struck off from the electoral rolls".

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Thursday lashed out at the ECI, alleging that it was isolating voters born between July 1987 and December 2004 and seeking documentary evidence of their citizenship in the name of 'special intensive revision of electoral rolls'.

Alleging that the ECI was "acting like a stooge of the BJP", Banerjee asked whether the move was a backdoor attempt to implement the NRC.

"From what I have understood from a cursory glance, the commission is now seeking a declaration from voters born between July 1, 1987, and December 2, 2004, which is Annexure D in one of the letters, where they will have to submit birth certificates of both parents as proof of citizenship," Banerjee said.

"I don't understand the reason behind the ECI move or the rationale behind selecting these dates. This is nothing short of a scam. I seek clarification from the commission on whether they are trying to implement the NRC through backdoors. In fact, this looks to be more dangerous than the NRC which every political party in opposition must resist," she added.

Banerjee said that the letters were sent to the Bihar government, and a copy was forwarded to her as well.