Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], December 27 (ANI): West Bengal Congress President Subhankar Sarkar took a jibe on Saturday at the Chief Election Commissioner, alleging that the current CEC, Gyanesh Kumar, is working as a “BJP President” and has ended the “impartial sanctity” of the Election Commission.
He claimed that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was not conducted honestly and said that the Congress party is raising concerns about this exercise. Speaking with ANI, Sarkar said, “The Central government conducted the SIR through the Election Commission. This has not been done honestly. Gyanesh Kumar is working as the President of the BJP, who has ended the impartial sanctity of the Election Commission, and we are raising our voice against this.”
He further questioned the urgency of the exercise, saying, “Why is there such haste? It would have gone smoothly if sufficient time had been allocated. The suffering of people and all the fear could have been avoided.”
On the same day, Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee called the Election Commission of India (ECI) a “WhatsApp Commission” and demanded that the constitutional body apologise to the people of West Bengal, claiming that the Special Intensive Revision drive was meant to “harass” the state.
Banerjee also highlighted the reported deaths of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during the SIR exercise. The draft voters’ list in West Bengal was published under SIR last week. “During the SIR, 45 people lost their lives, and six were hospitalised. Twenty-nine BLOs attempted suicide. We asked the EC five basic questions. However, we didn’t receive a single response from the EC. The EC told the media that they had given the answers,” Banerjee said while addressing a press conference.
He further questioned the ECI for sending a micro-observer to West Bengal and not to Gujarat. “SIR is a process to harass West Bengal. You send a micro-observer to Bengal; why not to Gujarat? It is being selectively implemented in Bengal. According to the EC’s draft list, approximately 80 per cent of the data mapping is complete. Why did the EC previously say it was not possible to ascertain 40–50 per cent of the mapping?” he asked.
Demanding an apology, Banerjee said, “The EC should apologise to the people of Bengal. All policies are being made via WhatsApp; this is a WhatsApp Commission.”
The TMC MP also informed that he will meet Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on December 31 to discuss the details of the SIR list. He accused the ECI of hiding the “correct list” and of being associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre.
“I will personally meet Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi on December 31 and discuss the details of the SIR list. Why is the EC hiding the correct list? You are the Election Commission of India, not the Election Commission of the BJP. If you have a list of Bangladeshis, release it; otherwise, apologise to the people of Bengal,” Banerjee said.
He also flagged “flaws” in the ECI application, claiming that one Seema Khanna is managing the ECI app. “We have screenshots of her admitting flaws in the ECI app. If we don’t get a response from the ECI by December 31, we will gherao the ECI,” he added. (ANI)
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