Over 11,000 voters were removed from Bihar’s list as “untraceable” on July 22, which mysteriously jumped to over one lakh the very next day. All this, even as the EC claims it will help people submit documents between August 1 and September 1. They are abusing laws to turn it into an exclusionary exercise. I have every reason to believe that they have already done this exercise, the BJP as a party, and now they are working backwards through the EC. This is match-fixing.Mamata Banerjee said the SIR would not be allowed in Bengal. Can the party or a state government stop such an exercise?The TMC has already moved Supreme Court. Mamata Banerjee will not remain silent as genuine citizens are disenfranchised. She has more workers per booth than the Booth Level Officers, and they will be on the ground to resist any unjust exclusion. She won’t hesitate to take to the streets if needed.EC recently asked for delinking the office of the Chief Electoral Officer from the West Bengal government for autonomy…The Trinamool Congress opposes this demand because it sees it as a strategic attempt to bypass state oversight and weaken the role of the elected state government in the electoral process. If this is not a predetermined exercise to tamper with and manipulate the West Bengal elections, then why are you worried?There have been reports of attacks on Bengali-speaking migrant workers in other states. Is TMC getting support from INDIA bloc partners on this?For us, the real issue isn’t whether the INDIA bloc is supporting us or not. The core concern is that Mamata Banerjee has a constitutional and moral responsibility to protect genuine citizens of her state. We have been raising this issue in Parliament every single day. We have been asking for a debate. But the Union government is saying, ‘This is not its business… The Election Commission is doing it.’
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