'Will expose BJP-EC conspiracy': Mamata Banerjee protests voter roll deletions

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday began a sit-in protest in Kolkata against alleged arbitrary deletions from the post-SIR electoral rolls, escalating the ruling All India Trinamool Congress’s confrontation with the Election Commission of India ahead of the state assembly elections.

Launching the dharna at Esplanade’s Metro Channel, Banerjee accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Election Commission of conspiring to “disenfranchise Bengali voters”.

“I will expose the BJP-EC conspiracy to disenfranchise Bengali voters,” the TMC supremo said at the start of the protest.


She also alleged that several voters had been wrongly marked as deceased in the revised electoral rolls. “I will present those voters, who have been declared dead by the Election Commission, at this protest site,” Banerjee said.

The sit-in comes two days before a proposed visit by the full bench of the Election Commission to the state and marks an escalation in the ruling All India Trinamool Congress’s confrontation with the poll body.

The protest was announced earlier this week by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who accused the Election Commission of conducting a “politically motivated” Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls that could disenfranchise lakhs of legitimate voters months before the assembly polls.

According to official data released on February 28, about 63.66 lakh names — around 8.3% of the electorate — have been removed since the SIR process began in November last year, reducing the voter base from roughly 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore.

More than 60.06 lakh electors have also been placed under the “under adjudication” category, meaning their eligibility will be decided through legal scrutiny in the coming weeks.

TMC leaders allege that minority voters, migrant workers and economically weaker sections have been disproportionately affected by the deletions. Abhishek Banerjee had earlier claimed the exercise was aimed at deleting over one crore voters and said the chief minister would outline the party’s next course of action during the protest.

(With inputs from agencies)