Mamata Banerjee to Protest in Kolkata on March 6 Against Voter List Deletions
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Kolkata, March 1 (NationPress) - On Sunday, Trinamool Congress's national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, declared that party leader and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will conduct a dharna in Kolkata on March 6 to protest the alleged removal of names from the final voters’ list in West Bengal after the SIR process.
During a press conference, Banerjee stated, “The BJP is unable to secure a victory in the Assembly elections. Therefore, it is manipulating the Election Commission to alter election outcomes by eliminating legitimate voters. BJP leaders aimed to delete over one crore voters in Bengal, a plan set before the SIR process began here. To voice our dissent against this unjust removal of names, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will stage a dharna in Kolkata on March 6.”
The dharna is scheduled to take place at Esplanade in central Kolkata, a site where Mamata Banerjee previously engaged in a 26-day hunger strike back in 2008.
“Why has the Election Commission not disclosed the list of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas identified during the SIR process in Bengal? This is merely a fabrication orchestrated by the BJP. The removal of genuine voters from Bengal’s list will not benefit the BJP, as they are unlikely to win more than 50 seats in the Assembly elections,” Banerjee remarked.
Abhishek Banerjee accused the exclusion of numerous names as a violation of democratic principles. He asserted that the voting rights of ordinary citizens are being restricted under the guise of updating the voters' list and challenged the Election Commission’s involvement in this issue.
“The Election Commission must be held accountable for this situation. Numerous individuals have died in Bengal as a consequence of the SIR process. In the name of logical inconsistencies, the Election Commission has merely executed the BJP's orders to eliminate over one crore names from the voters’ list,” he added.
According to him, party members and supporters from across the state are expected to join the dharna on March 6 to support Mamata Banerjee's protest against the name deletions.