Congress demands 'error-free' voter list to be released in Bengal; to hold protest on Feb 27

Kolkata, Feb 23 (IANS) The West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC), on Monday, demanded the release of error-free voter lists before the upcoming Assembly elections to be held in West Bengal.

WBPCC President Subhankar Sarkar also announced a 24-hour sit-in protest in front of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) office in Kolkata from 2 p.m. on February 27, to press their demand.

At the same time, the State Congress President has launched a political attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for criticising the Indian Youth Congress's bare-chested protest at the recent AI ​​conference held in Delhi. 

He also said that protests will be held in the city from 1 to 2 p.m. on Tuesday against PM Modi's remark. 

"You will see a unique protest tomorrow. We will inform you later where the protest will be held," Sarkar added.

He claimed that there are precedents of protests in minimal clothing in the history of the freedom struggle. 

He also questioned the role of the Central government, citing the violence in Manipur. 

The West Bengal Pradesh Congress leadership claimed that the Indian Youth Congress' protest is a 'proper protest'. 

"Sometimes such protests are necessary to expose the naked face of the Central government," Sarkar said.

On the other hand, hinting at intensifying the protest over the voter list issue, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress alleged that several inconsistencies have been found around the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list that began on November 4 last year.

Subhankar Sarkar said, "We have been vocal from the beginning in demanding that no eligible voter's name should be omitted and no fake name should be included in the voters' list. But the way the SIR has been conducted in the last four months has led to unnecessary harassment of eligible voters and there is a fear of a large number of names being deleted."

According to the State Congress President, more than one crore voters have been heard on the basis of so-called 'logical discrepancies', the legal validity of which has been questioned. 

Sarkar also claimed that the courts have had to intervene repeatedly due to some decisions of the Election Commission.

The Congress is going to intensify their agitation in the coming days with several demands such as -- the final voter list under SIR should be published on February 28, no genuine voters name should be excluded on the basis of 'logical discrepancy', the legal powers of electoral registration officers cannot be curtailed. 

Moreover, all applications submitted in Forms 6, 7 and 8 should be disposed of through proper hearing and a new schedule and clear guidelines should be given to eligible voters, who were accidentally excluded, which should be completed before the nomination process begins.

--IANS

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