New Delhi: West Bengal electoral list includes Bangladeshi infiltrators, Rohingyas, and fake voters, reiterated state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Samik Bhattacharya on Wednesday, stressing that intruders will be “detected, deleted, and deported”.
The Rajya Sabha MP was addressing the media at New Delhi’s party headquarters along with BJP Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal’s Balurghat constituency and Union Minister of State Sukanta Majumdar.
Commenting on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s February 1-4 visit to the national capital, Majumdar termed it a “drama”, first in front of the state guest houses, then before the Election Commission headquarters, and the next day, the Supreme Court.
“Mamata Banerjee’s drama is only for the cameras and is an attempt to draw attention to herself. Wherever she goes, things are arranged behind the camera, but her entire effort has completely flopped,” he quipped.
“Generally, the Supreme Court does not directly tell a Chief Minister to remain silent or to refrain from speaking too much. However, in this case, one of the justices conveyed to Mamata Banerjee in a very restrained and precise manner, effectively telling her to ‘shut up’, he added.
“Mamata Banerjee should explain how many District Magistrates or district administrations in West Bengal informed the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), and how many death certificates were submitted to the Election Commission,” asked Majumdar on the state ruling party Trinamool Congress chief’s repeated allegations on SIR-related deaths.
During the visit, the Chief Minister paraded family members reportedly suffering over SIR exigencies before the CEC and his colleagues on Monday and the next day, the media.
On Wednesday, Mamata chose to join the argument in her own case in the Supreme Court against the SIR exercise, surrounded by a battery of lawyers.
Underscoring the exercise being underway in 12 states across the country, Bhattacharya pointed out that nowhere else has there been as much uproar over it as is being witnessed in West Bengal.
He recalled that in August 2005, the Chief Minister had herself demanded voter identity cards. Papers were thrown on the Speaker’s table, alleging that voter lists were being filled only with the names of Bangladeshi infiltrators and that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) intended to contest elections using such engineered lists. Now, she has reached Delhi to stage a protest against the SIR process in West Bengal, pointed out Bhattacharya.
On alleged infiltration, dismissing Mamata’s charges that border patrolling is the Centre’s responsibility, the state BJP chief pointed out that West Bengal shares an approximately 2,200-kilometre-long border with Bangladesh. Much of this is porous and dotted with numerous water bodies, he reminded.
He emphasised that no single force can, on its own, prevent illegal infiltration. A coordinated approach is required, combining political will with public awareness.
The BJP leaders also claimed that Booth Level Officers (BLO) are being intimidated; an attempt on the life of the husband of a woman BLO was also reported. BJP Booth Level Agents (BLA) and party ‘karyakartas’ are being prevented from even submitting Form-7, they stated.
“Booth Level Officers are being threatened, and the husband of a woman BLO was subjected to a life-threatening attack,” said Bhattacharya.
The Rajya Sabha MP claimed that since 2016, more than 300 BJP workers have been victims of violence. “During the 2021 Assembly elections alone, 56 ‘karyakartas’ were killed in just 27 days, including women. Several women ‘karyakartas’ openly stated that they were subjected to gang rape,” he added.
Both the BJP leaders asserted that the Trinamool Congress has lost its mass base, and that is why it is now resorting to repression and pressure politics by raising the SIR issue in the Supreme Court and elsewhere.
(IANS)
