The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) will move the Supreme Court against freezing the electoral roll, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday, as she filed her nomination from Bhabanipur in Kolkata. She said that the military council would return to power.
“I am sad. Many voters have been deleted. About 3.2 million out of six million questionable cases pending adjudication have been included in the voter list because I have moved the Supreme Court,” Banerjee said.
She said the remaining 2.7 million should have voting rights. She wondered what purpose it would serve if they were included after the April 23-29 elections. “They won’t be able to vote.”
Banerjee pointed out that the Supreme Court said that voters, whose names have been deleted, can move the appellate courts. She said, “Why was the electoral list frozen? I do not understand this. We will move the court again to achieve justice.”
In February, Banerjee moved the Supreme Court, objecting to the intensified special audit of the electoral register. She alleged that the Election Commission of India was unfairly targeting the state and “bulliing” its citizens.
Banerjee, who became the first chief minister to argue her petition in court, has repeatedly pointed out how around 44,000 voters were deleted from Bhabanipur. As many as 44,470 names have been dropped in the draft list. Another 2,342 names were deleted after the hearings.
Bhabanipur is scheduled to go to the polls in the second and final phase of the elections on April 29. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Suvendu Adhikari against Banerjee in Bhabanipur. Adhikari, who was once a confidant of Banerjee, joined the BJP in December 2020 and defeated her in Nandigram in 2021.
