New Delhi: The escalating showdown between the West Bengal government and the Election Commission over the revision of electoral rolls shows no sign of cooling down, the chief minister said Mamata Banerjee Accused pollsters of being “run by political parties”, an apparent allusion to the ruling bjp.In fierce attack on Election Commission, Mamata Didi Call the body the “Tughlaqi Committee.” The term “Tughlaqi” comes from Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the 14th century ruler of Delhi who is remembered for taking sudden, impractical and ill-planned decisions.CM Mamata accused the Election Commission of treating common people as terrorists and alleged that the poll body has been flouting the Supreme Court order on Special Intensified Amendment (SIR) and “targeting voters and undermining democracy”.Mamata also made explosive remarks in the ongoing SIR in West Bengal, alleging that a woman functionary of the BJP’s IT cell “used artificial intelligence to delete the names of 58 lakh voters in Bengal”.The TMC chief said in Bengal that “160 people lost their lives due to SIR anxiety and work stress”.Mamata said her government would “100 percent protect” Bengal government officials if the Election Commission “punishes” them.Her remarks came a day after the Election Commission took the unprecedented step of suspending seven Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) involved in the SIR exercise in Bangladesh for “serious misconduct, dereliction of duty and abuse of statutory powers”.The committee also directed the Bengal chief secretary to ensure that disciplinary proceedings are initiated against them by the respective cadre control authorities and sought notification of the matter. Unlike the previous situation where the Commission asked the Bangladesh government to suspend “erroneous” EROs and AEROs, this time the EC has resorted to its powers under Section 13CC of the RP Act, 1950 and as per the terms of settlement reached between the Commission and the Centre.According to sources, it was observed that all these officials, while reviewing the cases for final announcement, cleared multiple cases despite non-submission of documents and inconsistency in distribution and eligibility of voters and failed to take corrective action, thereby approving ineligible cases and abusing statutory powers.Last week, the Supreme Court said it would not allow any “impediment” to the particularly intensive revision of electoral rolls being carried out by states. The Supreme Court is hearing a slew of petitions related to the West Bengal SIR, including one by Mamata Banerjee, challenging the way voters are classified in the “logical difference” list.
