Kolkata, March 6 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the BJP of plotting to remove the names of over 1 crore people from the state's voter list through the Systematic Voter Identification and Voter Registration (SVIR) process in its attempt to win the upcoming assembly elections.
In an interview with Bengali television channel News18 Bangla, Banerjee also charged Union Home Minister Amit Shah with threatening two senior officials to fulfill his party's agenda.
She alleged that under the guise of logical discrepancies in the SVIR, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has omitted the names of a large number of women, SC-ST people, Muslims, and linguistic communities like Biharis who had been voting in the state for decades after 2002.
The SVIR was last conducted in the state in 2002.
"They (BJP) are planning to remove 1.3 crore voters' names from the electoral roll this time, but we will fight and not allow this to happen. I know this is a political battle," the chief minister said.
Describing the CEC as 'Vanish Kumar', for his alleged role in removing genuine voters' names from the list, she said he will become “Finish Kumar in the coming days," indicating that his tenure would soon end.
"Two EC representatives in Bengal are also part of Shah's conspiracy in not allowing people to vote. I have information that Amit Shah is calling up the officials almost every day and threatening them,” Banerjee said.
The Trinamool Congress supremo, however, did not identify any official by name.
According to official data released on February 28, as many as 63.66 lakh names, around 8.3 per cent of the electorate, have been deleted since the SVIR process began in November last year, reducing the voter base from about 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore.
In addition, more than 60.06 lakh electors have been placed under the “under adjudication” category, meaning their eligibility will be determined through legal scrutiny in the coming weeks.
"From Muslims to migrants to women, SCs, STs, OBCs and Matuas, lakhs of citizens' names have been omitted," she claimed, and asked, "What does this point to?"
In the Darjeeling Hills, names of 50,000 Gorkhas were deleted, she claimed.
The TMC chief described Shah and Kumar as "anti-woman."
"Women after marriage change their ancestral addresses, and at times carry the surname of the in-laws. Doesn't the EC know this? Both Shah and Kumar showed their anti-woman attitude by including the names of lakhs of such individuals under the guise of logical discrepancies," she said.
Banerjee said the supplementary lists, containing the names of voters who are now under adjudication, have not yet been released.
The CM alleged that the list finalized by Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AERO) was manipulated, and names were omitted in Delhi, and this was done by Shah.
"Many bowed down in the face of Shah's intimidation, but not everyone is the same. We have all the information, and we are not scared. We know how to fight," Banerjee said.
She claimed that the BJP has "fired three bullets – the CAA, NRC, and now the SVIR – on the people of the country and Bengal in particular. They want to divide people and pit one against the other.”