CEC has blood on his hands, says TMC claiming 40 SIR-related deaths in WB

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A Trinamool Congress delegation on Friday met with the full bench of the Election Commission of India here and alleged that around 40 SIR-related deaths had occurred in West Bengal so far, accusing the poll panel chief of having "blood on his hands".

 

The 10-member delegation, led by TMC Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien, met the EC officials amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.

 

The delegation consisted of Lok Sabha MPs Mahua Moitra, Satabdi Roy, Kalyan Banerjee, Pratima Mondal, Sajda Ahmed, and Rajya Sabha MPs Dola Sen, Mamata Thakur, Saket Gokhale, and Prakash Chik Barik.

 

Following their meeting, O'Brien addressed reporters, saying that the party had raised five questions, but Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar did not respond to any of them.

 

"We started the meeting by stating that the CEC has blood on his hands. We raised five questions. After this, Kalyan Banerjee, Mahua Moitra, and Mamata Thakur spoke and shared whatever they had to in about 40 minutes," O'Brien said.

 

"Then the CEC spoke uninterrupted for one hour. We were also not interrupted while we spoke, but we did not receive any answer to any of our five questions," he added.

 

Moitra said the delegation shared with the CEC a list of 40 people whose deaths, they alleged, were linked to the SIR exercise. The commission, however, dismissed it as mere allegations, the Lok Sabha MP claimed.

 

"We started with giving them a list of persons whose deaths are linked to the SIR process... The CEC said these are merely allegations..." Moitra said.

 

The TMC MPs asked the poll body about the claim that the exercise would weed out non-voters, and questioned why the exercise was not being undertaken in the Northeastern states, which also face the risk of infiltration as they share borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar.

 

They also questioned how the electoral roll, on which the last Lok Sabha election was held, suddenly became "unreliable". The MPs raised the issues of alleged deaths linked to the SIR process, and questioned who would take responsibility for it. Additionally, they expressed worries about the neutrality and effectiveness of the SIR process and noted a recent amendment in the rules by the poll panel that allows for the appointment of external Booth Level Agents (BLAs).

 

The TMC further informed the CEC that BJP leaders in West Bengal are claiming that one crore voters' names will be deleted. "The ECI has taken no cognisance of these comments, nor have they negated the dear mongering by the BJP," a TMC leader said.

 

A party source said they have compiled a list of 60 tragedies linked to SIR - 41 common people and 19 BLOs. Of the common individuals, 35 have died, and six are receiving medical attention. Among the 19 BLOs affected, four have died, while 15 are hospitalised or receiving care.

 

The SIR is currently underway in 12 states and Union territories, including West Bengal.