West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday blamed former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the deletion of 27 lakh names from the state’s electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision, asserting that neither the BJP nor the Election Commission could be held responsible for the exclusions.
The chief minister’s jibe came a day after Banerjee addressed a rally at Serampore and launched a fresh attack on the Election Commission and the BJP over the voter-roll revision. The chief minister’s remarks came amid a renewed political confrontation over the SIR exercise, with Banerjee’s party alleging that genuine voters had been removed from the electoral rolls and demanding their restoration. Adhikari also sought to turn the political argument over the SIR into a wider question of electoral accountability, accusing Banerjee of refusing to accept the verdict of the electorate. “If SIR is good in Kerala, why is it bad in West Bengal?
“The responsibility for the deletion of 27 lakh names lies with Mamata Banerjee, not the BJP or the Election Commission. We have won 208 seats, while the two sides (TMC and its allies) have 80.
Adhikari said the deletions were carried out by judicial officers pursuant to directions of the Supreme Court in a case filed by Banerjee herself, and accused her of attempting to shift the blame after losing the Assembly elections. Judicial officers took the decision following the Supreme Court’s directions in a case filed by her,” Adhikari said at a press conference here. Mamata Banerjee is unable to accept the people’s verdict,” he said.
