Kolkata, Dec 27 (IANS) Trinamool Congress General Secretary and Lok Sabha MP, Abhishek Banerjee, on Saturday, challenged the Election Commission of India (ECI), to immediately publish a separate list of 1.36 crore voters who have been identified as “logical discrepancy” cases in the course of progeny-mapping.
He also said that he will call for a “gherao” of the ECI headquarters in New Delhi if the separate list of 1.36 crore of “logical discrepancy” cases is not published.
“I will meet the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, on December 31 and raise the demand for publishing the separate list of “logical discrepancy” cases,” Banerjee said.
Voters being detected as “logical discrepancy” cases are those voters in whose cases weird family-tree data have been detected in course of progeny-mapping, like voters becoming fathers at the age of 15 or less, voters becoming grandfathers at the age of 40 or less, and voters having fathers and mothers with the same names, among others.
These “logical discrepancy” cases will be summoned for hearing in the second stage of the hearings on claims and objections to the draft voters’ list that started on Saturday.
In the first stage of hearing, “unmapped” voters, that is voters having no link with the 2002 voters’ list either through self-mapping or through progeny-mapping, have been summoned for hearing.
Speaking to the media persons on Saturday afternoon, Abhishek Banerjee raised two questions on the “logical discrepancy” cases.
“How could the commission ascertain the figure of 1.35 crore of “logical discrepancy” cases just in a day based on data collected by the booth-level officers for more than a month by visiting the doorsteps of the voters? Why is the Commission leaking this date “logical discrepancy” cases selectively through WhatsApp instead of issuing a formal press release in the matter?” Banerjee asked.
He also accused the ECI’s Director General (Information Technology), Seema Khanna, of playing a role in the matter.
He also questioned the authority of Khanna in this electoral revision exercise.
Speaking on the occasion, the Trinamool Congress General Secretary also asked why the Commission refrained from extending the deadline for completion of the SIR exercise in West Bengal, which they allowed in case of other states where parallel revision exercises are being conducted.
“The people of West Bengal are suffering because of the hurried manner in which the Commission is conducting the revision exercise in the state. A total of 51 people in the state, including some booth-level officers (BLOs), have made suicide attempts because of the SIR in West Bengal, of which 45 individuals have lost their lives. A total of 29 BLOs have made suicide attempts,” Abhishek Banerjee said.
He also asked why the elected BJP Lok Sabha members are silent over the Union government’s reluctance to release funds to the West Bengal government under different Central-sponsored welfare schemes.
“They (Central government) have been selected by the people of West Bengal, and hence they, too, have the responsibility to speak on behalf of their voters,” Banerjee said.
–IANS
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