Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], November 22 (ANI): Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Kunal Ghosh on Friday accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of "politically pressuring" the Election Commission (EC) over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, ahead of the elections.
Ghosh claimed that the EC is being misused to target genuine voters, alleging that real voters and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are committing suicide due to harassment. He demanded that absolutely no legitimate voter be removed while insisting that no illegal names remain on the voter list.
Speaking to ANI, Ghosh said, "After the SIR happened in 2001, it took two years. Now elections are coming. Now, motivated by politics, they are pressuring the Election Commission. Real voters are committing suicide under pressure, BLOs are committing suicide... By misusing the Election Commission, the BJP is fulfilling its political agenda. We want that not a single real voter faces any trouble and not a single real voter's name is removed from the voter list, and not a single illegal voter's name remains..."
Meanwhile, on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah called on citizens of the country to fully support the ongoing nationwide process of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying that the process is essential to protect the nation and democracy itself, with the exercise ensuring that "every single infiltrator" will be removed from the electoral list.
Addressing the Border Security Force's 61st Raising Day event at Haripur in Bhuj, Gujarat, Shah said, "Mein aaj yeh yeh spasht karna chahta hu ki hum is desh mein se eke k ghuspetiye ko chun chun kar bahar nikalenge, yeh humara pran nhai (today I want to make it clear that we will single-handedly remove all the infiltrators from this country. This is our pledge.) The SIR is a process to protect the country and our democracy."
Without naming the parties in the INDIA bloc, Shah said that "certain political parties" are trying to weaken the campaign for eliminating the so called infiltrators, while also warning that them that the Bihar elections have already given a mandate to the NDA.
"Unfortunately, some political parties are trying to weaken the campaign to eliminate the infiltrators. These political parties are opposing the SIR process and the Election Commission's voter list sanitisation," the Union Minister said. (ANI)
