Mamata accuses BJP of using 'Vanish Commission' to delete voters

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's sit-in against alleged arbitrary deletions in the post-SIR voter list entered the third day on Sunday, with the TMC supremo accusing the BJP of "misusing the Vanish Commission to erase legitimate voters from electoral rolls".

Her comment comes on a day when the full bench of the Election Commission is scheduled to arrive in Kolkata to review poll preparedness ahead of the state assembly elections.

Banerjee also alleged that the country is witnessing an "unprecedented and direct assault" on its democratic foundations.


"In their 'One Nation, One Leader, One Party' frenzy, BJP has systematically weaponised every democratic institution and every constitutional post to serve their own Jono-Birodhi (anti-people) ambitions," she alleged.

Banerjee claimed that the BJP's ultimate goal is to "replace" the Constitution framed by Babasaheb Ambedkar with its "party manifesto".

"For years, they have unleashed Central agencies, National Commissions, a servile Godi Media, and a compliant section of the judiciary against Bengal. They are misusing the Vanish Commission to erase legitimate voters from electoral rolls," the TMC supremo alleged.

Banerjee described the BJP leadership as "zamindars of Delhi" and claimed that they would never succeed in their mission to "subjugate" Bengal.

"Our dharna at Dharmatala is our answer to every Bangla-Birodhi (anti-Bengal) agenda that seeks to humiliate, intimidate, and persecute the people of this state," she said.

The chief minister's remarks come amid an intensifying row over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which the TMC claims has led to the large-scale deletion of genuine voters.

According to official data released on February 28, as many as 63.66 lakh names - around 8.3 per cent of the electorate - have been deleted since the SIR process began in November last year, reducing the voter base from about 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore.

In addition, over 60.06 lakh electors have been placed under the "under adjudication" category, meaning their eligibility will be determined through legal scrutiny in the coming weeks, a process that could further reshape constituency-level electoral equations.

Banerjee claimed that while the BJP's only priority is power, her priority "is and has always been people".

Drawing a historical parallel, she added that just as Bengal rose to break the shackles of colonial rule, it would "rise again to pave the way for BJP's inevitable downfall".