Several alive voters marked dead in Bengal's SIR exercise: Mamata Banerjee

KOLKATA, (IANS): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of marking several alive voters dead in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

"Some of these voters are here with us today. The Commission should feel ashamed that it had marked voters who are alive as dead in the SIR process. But today they are here to prove that they are still alive. The ECI is acting as an agent of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is itself a shameless political force," the Chief Minister said at indefinite anti-SIR sit-in protest at Esplanade East.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister wished the voters long and healthy lives.

"Remember, we are working inch-by-inch. We have tracked all 22 voters who have been classified as deceased, though they are still there. I would also request the media to give adequate coverage about such voters, who are still alive but are dead as per the Commission's records," the Chief Minister added.

She also said that the forthcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal later this year will be a farcical exercise unless the genuine voters are able to cast their votes in that election. Besides the top leaders of Trinamool Congress, the members of the association of booth-level officers (BLOs) affiliated to the Trinamool Congress were also present at the venue of the sit-in protest.

Incidentally, the venue of the Chief Minister's sit-in demonstration is barely 1.5 kilometres away from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal.

The Chief Minister's indefinite demonstration has started just before the full bench of the ECI led by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Gyanesh Kumar, is arriving in Kolkata on March 8 with a packed schedule for the next two days.

A massive stage has been set up at the venue of the sit-in demonstration at Esplanade East.

Although the Trinamool Congress leadership did not give any indication on how long the demonstration would continue, from the size of the stage and the amenities arranged there, it seems the protest would continue for quite some time.