Bengal braces for row over voters as Mamata Banerjee, Suvendu Adhikari trade charges

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came down heavily on the ongoing Special intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar being conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and said that Bengal will be targeted next with the aim of deleting names, except those of BJP supporters.

Banerjee warned the existing voters of the state to be cautious during the voter list revision in August and urged new voters to enrol their names in Bengal. "When the voter list-revision work starts, be very careful. Take leave if needed, but make sure your name is there on the list. Some agencies are striking out names while sitting in other states. People from outside are voting here. I have caught their duplicity. They are mixing names from other states," Banerjee said.

She called the ECI an "agent" of the BJP, which was working to help the party win the polls.

She pointed out that Muslims were being targeted. "We have learnt that around 31 lakh voters have been removed in Bihar. If they are planning such things here as in Bihar, we will fight," Banerjee said.

Meanwhile, leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the assembly, Suvendu Adhikari went to West Bengal CEO's office with 50 MLAs to demand the deletion of the names of Rohingyas from Bengal's voter list. "Full-fledged preparations are going on. But WB-CEO's office cannot say before the final notification by ECI. Training of block level officers is happening. We have time in Bengal. The names of Rohingya Muslims should be deleted. We will not allow Rohingyas here," Adhikari said.

"The Mamata Banerjee government distributed fake birth certificates, Aadhaar cards and fake voter ID cards in lieu of money. The Rohingyas first came from Myanmar and then took refuge in Bangladesh and came to Bengal from there as land for fencing was not given to the Central government from 2016. Around 540 km border is unfenced. Banerjee is in a state of fear psychosis. One crore Rohingya Muslims have learnt Bengali and are spread out in Bengal and other states," Adhikari said.

Banerjee refuted this by claiming that Rohingyas stay in Myanmar. "Our Bengali-speaking migrant workers have all the documentary proof. They are being put in detention camps in other states," Banerjee said.

Adhikari claimed the demography of Kolkata-Rajarhat New Town areas has changed. "North 24 Paraganas district's Basirhat, Swarup Nagar, Minakha and Baduria have witnessed population rise of 18.2%. If Bihar has 30 lakh Rohingyas, there must be 90 lakh of them in Bengal," Adhikari claimed.