Bengal BJP seeks exclusion of "infiltrators" from voters' list

At an all-party meet convened by Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ariz Aftab, the West Bengal BJP unit today demanded that "infiltrators" be kept out of the electoral rolls, a senior leader of the saffron party said.

The party also asked the CEO to omit "doubtful" voters from the list, he said.

Aftab had called for the all-party meeting here to discuss modalities of revision of electoral rolls, the process for which is set to begin on September 1 and continue till October 31.

"We have asked the CEO to keep the infiltrators out of electoral rolls. In no way, they should be enrolled as eligible voters. We have also requested for omission of doubtful voters from the list," senior BJP leader Prabhakar Tiwari told reporters after the meeting.

Aftab, on his part, said the officials will follow the guidelines set by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in preparing the rolls.

"The process for special revision of electoral rolls will be carried out on the basis of the rules and regulations set by the ECI. We will strictly adhere to it," he said.

The BJP's demand comes days after the leaders of the party alleged that "Bangladeshi infiltrators" have been included in the electoral rolls by the TMC in the state to secure more votes.

The ruling party termed the allegations as baseless.

The TMC, during today's meeting, sought extension of timeframe for the revision of the electoral rolls in view of Durga puja holidays in the middle of October.

"There are puja holidays during that time. We want the period for voters' list revision be extended beyond October 31," TMC Secretary General Partha Chatterjee said.

The CPI(M) representatives, on the other hand, stressed the need to increase awareness in the state about the electoral roll revision.

CEO Aftab, while reacting to the demands, said, "Let the process begin and we will inform the ECI authorities about the developments accordingly.