Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday, February 4, called the Election Commission of India (ECI) a “WhatsApp Commission,” alleging the poll body issued informal orders through the messaging platform to booth-level officers (BLO).
“The Election Commission… sorry, the WhatsApp Commission… is doing all this. People’s names are being deleted. Bengal is being targeted,” she told the Supreme Court and claimed the ECI was responsible for mass deletion of voter names in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR ) process of electoral rolls.
“Bengal is being unfairly targeted. People are being bulldozed,” she said, urging a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi to “save democracy.”
The Bengal Chief Minister argued that the SIR had resulted in arbitrary deletions due to what she called “illogical mismatches.”
“SIR process is only for deletion. Mismatch not only in title… unplanned,” Banerjee said.
Explaining further, she said, “Suppose a daughter after marriage goes to her in-laws’ house. Why she is using her husband’s title? That is also a mismatch.”
“That can’t be,” the CJI expressed his disbelief.
“This is what is being done,” Mamata asserted, adding that names of daughters who shifted to their in-laws’ homes and poor people who moved temporarily were deleted “because of discrepancies.”
Welcoming the top court’s earlier order to include Aadhaar as one of the supporting documents, she alleged that the poll panel is not allowing it and is seeking other documents from the voters for electoral roll revision.
“Four states are going to elections. Why, after 24 years, was the hurry to do it in three months? The ECI is hell-bent on targeting Bengal as elections are due this year,” she said and claimed that many living persons have been declared dead by the poll body during SIR.
On BLO suicide deaths, she said, “More than 100 people died. BLOs died, so many are hospitalised.”
The Supreme Court has issued notices and sought replies by February 9 from the Election Commission and the chief electoral officer of West Bengal on her petition.
It took note of Banerjee’s petition and rare arguments ever advanced by a serving Chief Minister before it, and said “genuine persons must remain on the electoral roll.”
Her lawyer and senior advocate Shyam Divan referred to the huge number of unmapped voters and said there was hardly any time left for the remedial measures, as the process is to conclude on February 14.
He said the poll panel has to upload the reasons for citing names in the “logical discrepancy” list. Divan said that as of now, 1.36 crore persons have been issued notices after they were found to be in violation of logical discrepancies.
Logical discrepancies in progeny linking with the 2002 voter list include instances of a mismatch in the parent’s name and the age difference between a voter and their parent being less than 15 years or more than 50 years.
Divan said in many cases, names of persons issued notices for logical discrepancies were misspelt, and it could be rectified easily.
The CJI referred to a Bengali dialect and said at times, names are misspelt because of it.
The bench said electoral roll revision, at times, deals with migration also, but genuine persons must remain in the voter list.
“Every problem has a solution and we must ensure that no innocent person is left out,” the CJI said.
Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the poll panel, countered the charges and alleged that the state government has provided the services of only 80 grade-two officers, like SDMs, for overseeing the SIR process. He said only low-ranked government employees, like Anganwadi workers, have been provided by the West Bengal government for the process.
Banerjee countered the EC’s charges and said the state has provided whatever was sought by the poll panel.
On January 19, the top court passed a slew of directions, observing that the SIR process in West Bengal should be transparent and not cause inconvenience.
It directed the EC to display the names of those on the “logical discrepancies” list at gram panchayat bhavans and block offices, where documents and objections will also be submitted.
Banerjee had earlier written to the chief election commissioner (CEC), urging him to halt the “arbitrary and flawed” SIR in the poll-bound state.
Sharpening her attack on the EC, CM Banerjee had warned that continuation of the SIR in the present form could trigger “mass disenfranchisement” and “strike at the foundations of democracy”.
In a strongly worded letter dated January 3 to CEC Gyanesh Kumar, she accused the EC of presiding over an “unplanned, ill-prepared and ad hoc” process marked by “serious irregularities, procedural violations and administrative lapses”.
(With PTI inputs)
