In Kolkata, nearly 91 lakh voters were removed from the electoral rolls in West Bengal after the completion of the process to review voter information, according to data from the Election Commission. This could have a significant impact on the upcoming state assembly elections.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the election authority of deliberately removing names of Matua, Rajbanshi, and minority community members from the voter list. However, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari maintained that "Bangladeshi Muslims have no place in West Bengal."
The Election Commission has not yet officially announced the final voter list after the review process.
However, available figures show that around 11.85% of the original 7.66 crore electorate have been removed.
Over 27.16 lakh of the 60.06 lakh voters who were under review have been removed by judicial officers.
Approximately 45.22% of the cases under judicial review after the publication of the voter list on February 28 were removed.
Over 32.68 lakh of the 60.06 lakh voters who were under review have been included in the final voter list.
The highest number of removals were in Murshidabad, a district with a majority Muslim population, where over 4.55 lakh of the 11.01 lakh names were removed from the voter list, representing around 41.33% of the names under review.
Significant removals were also recorded in North 24 Parganas, which borders Bangladesh, and Malda.
Removals in South 24 Parganas, Purba Bardhaman, and Nadia districts were around 2.23 lakh, 2.09 lakh, and 2.98 lakh, respectively.
In Nadia and North 24 Parganas, districts with a Hindu refugee Matua population, a high percentage of removals were recorded, at 77.86% and 55.08% respectively.
Over 1.2 lakh names, representing over 50% of the 2.38 lakh voters under review, were removed from the final voter list in Cooch Behar, a district with a Rajbanshi community.
Over 28,000 voters were removed in Kolkata South, which includes Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's constituency, resulting in a removal percentage of 36.19.
Approximately 39,000 voters in Kolkata North were found ineligible, resulting in a removal percentage of around 64.
Addressing a rally in Nadia, Mamata Banerjee accused the Election Commission and the BJP of deliberately removing names of Matuas, Rajbanshis, and minorities from the voter list. She vowed to provide legal support to those whose names were excluded.
She also claimed that names were being removed from voter lists in districts with significant minority populations, such as Murshidabad, Malda, and North Dinajpur, "like lice."
Banerjee claimed that following her intervention in the Supreme Court, around 32 lakh names out of nearly 60 lakh cases 'under adjudication’ had been restored.
The TMC supremo urged voters to participate in the upcoming assembly elections to protect their identity and democratic rights.
Accusing Mamata Banerjee of pressuring the Supreme Court to intervene in the review process, Suvendu Adhikari stated that "A significant portion of the names deleted from the rolls are those of dead voters. The CM wants dead voters to vote and that's why she is raising objections."
Adhikari insisted that Bengal will not offer shelter to Bangladeshi Muslims and that the voter list must be "purified."
He also accused Mamata Banerjee of using the SIR (Voter Information Review) process as a precursor to law and order disturbances and anarchy before the elections.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the BJP is deleting legitimate voters from electoral rolls to maintain power.