‘They want to delete names of valid voters’: Mamata Banerjee accuses EC of trying to ‘implement NRC through backdoors’
West Bengal chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday lashed out at the Election Commission of India, accusing it of trying to implement the contentious NRC through ‘backdoors’ for seeking documentary evidence of citizenships from some people.
The CM said that the EC was isolating voters born between July 1987 and December 2004 and seeking their citizenship documents in the name of ‘special intensive revision of electoral rolls’.
She alleged that the electoral body was behaving like a ‘stooge of the BJP’, asking if it was trying to implement the NRC through backdoor.
“I have received two letters from the ECI, each comprising 25-30 pages. I haven’t been able to go through them in detail so far. But from what I have understood from a cursory glance, the Commission is now seeking a declaration form from voters born between July 1, 1987, and December 2, 2004, which is Annexure D in one of the letters, where they will have to submit birth certificates of both parents as proof of citizenship,” she told reporters in Digha.
Banerjee is in the coastal town in the Purba Medinipur district to oversee preparations and participate in Friday’s Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath from the newly inaugurated Jagannath temple.
She said that the matter was “of utmost concern”, which is why she hurriedly called the press to address the issue.
Seeking clarification from the EC, the TMC supremo said that the move was more dangerous than the NRC.
“I don’t understand the reason behind the ECI move or the rationale behind selecting these dates. This is nothing short of a scam. I seek clarification from the Commission on whether they are trying to implement the NRC through backdoors. In fact, this looks to be more dangerous than the NRC which every political party in opposition must resist,” she said.
EC acting upon BJP’s wishes
Mamata Banerjee alleged that the Election Commission was acting on the basis of the BJP’s wishes, challenging the poll body’s authority to seek the documents.
“How can the ECI do this unilaterally without consulting the recognised political parties at the central and state levels who play a key role in running the country’s democratic structure? They are treating us like bonded labourers and doing this only to fulfil the wishes of a certain RSS pracharak who is now running the country for all practical purposes,” the CM said, pointing to, but without naming, Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
She further claimed that a similar letter was sent to poll-bound Bihar but alleged that nothing will happen there as the state is ruled by the BJP.
“Nothing will happen in Bihar because the BJP rules that state and the state elections there are at the doorstep. Their real target is Bengal. They want to delete the names of valid young voters. Many parents will not be able to furnish their birth certificates. They are targeting the migrant worker community of Bengal, students, villagers and uneducated voters,” Banerjee alleged.
