West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Ganesh Kumar, alleging that the BJP is making a “large-scale” attempt to register outsiders as voters ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections next month.
It cited credible reports that BJP agents had filed a large number of Form 6 applications for registration across districts. “These do not appear to be routine requests to include voters, but a malicious ploy to include non-residents in the electoral roll,” Banerjee wrote to Kumar.
“There are serious concerns that these requests may relate to individuals who are not genuine residents of Bengal and do not have any legitimate connection with the state. Similar patterns were observed before the elections in Bihar, Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi,” she wrote.
On Monday, Abhishek Banerjee, MP from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), led a delegation that met Kumar and raised similar allegations. He claimed that at least 30,000 Form 6 were submitted between 11 am and 6 pm on Monday to register voters from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as voters in West Bengal.
The BJP wrote to state chief electoral officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal, accusing Banerjee of making inflammatory and intimidating speeches at election rallies. He pointed to a persistently disturbing pattern of rhetoric aimed at instilling fear and coercing voters, posing a threat to the conduct of free, fair and peaceful elections.
Pointing out the “public threats” made by Mamata Banerjee, the BJP said the state police force had become a mere passive spectator, emboldening the perpetrators to commit acts of violence. She demanded that she be banned from campaigning. The BJP urged the poll panel to deploy additional central forces in the state and more officers from outside the state as observers.
On March 25, Mamata Banerjee had said that she respected the central forces, but added that she had seen them carrying the BJP flag in Bankura. “This has never happened in the past. I hold all mothers and daughters responsible [women]. Young people will guard the EVMs [electronic voting machines] And ballot boxes. Women must be ready on polling day for the electronic voting machines to arrive at the strong room. Also guard on the counting day,” Banerjee said in Naxalbari.
The BJP alleged that Banerjee made similar speeches during the 2021 Assembly elections, which were marred by violence. The Calcutta High Court ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation investigation and the formation of a special investigation team to look into the violence.
