54 lakh voter names deleted in Bengal SIR, 84 dead, alleges Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday (January 13) alleged that 54 lakhs name were unilaterally deleted from the draft rolls during the SIR exercise in the state by misusing the powers of electoral registration officers (EROs).

‘84 died in Bengal so far over SIR’

Speaking to reporters at the state secretariat, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo further alleged that as many as 84 people have died till Tuesday, out of which four died by suicide, and 17 lost their lives due to brain stroke or heart stroke after receiving SIR notice.

The Chief Minister also accused the Election Commission (EC) of acting as the “BJP’s stooge” alleging that names were being deleted through AI onthe BJP's instructions.

Also Read: Mamata Banerjee has right to question SIR, says West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose

"The EC, while sitting in Delhi, used AI tools devised by the BJP to delete names. These AI software accounted for the name mismatch in SIR data. They deleted names of women who changed surnames post marriage," she said.

"84 people died till this morning; 4 died by suicide, 17 lost their lives due to brain stroke or heart stroke after getting SIR notice. The Election Commission should take responsibility for all these deaths. BJP should take responsibility for all these deaths; even Duryodhana and Dushasana should take responsibility for these deaths...Names are deleted through AI on the BJP's instructions...As per our knowledge, there is a plan that people from Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha are entering here and voting in Bengal, added Banerjee as quoted by ANI.

‘Plan to remove another 1 crore names’

Claiming that 'logical discrepancy' was not part of the original SIR verification process, and that it was "included as an afterthought to add to deletions," Banerjee said that the "BJP-EC nexus" was planning to remove another 1 crore names from the final rolls.

Also Read: Mamata says she will move court on Tuesday against 'inhumane' conduct of SIR

"The EC has not allowed BLA-2s to attend hearings because the BJP couldn't amass its workers to do the job," the TMC supremo said.

The Chief Minister further alleged that the EC was running on WhatsApp, changing SIR rules multiple times each day, adding that the use of micro-observers was not allowed as per SIR rules, but they were deployed in West Bengal.

“BJP workers caught red-handed transporting enumeration forms in bulk for deletion,” alleged the Chief Minister.

‘BJP pressuring EROs, AEROs’

Meanwhile, the TMC alleged the BJP leaders and the party’s booth-level agents were pressurising officials to force the “bulk submission of Form 7 for mass deletion” of voters.

Also Read: Mamata urges CEC to immediately halt Bengal SIR, calls process 'deeply compromised'

“We have received alarming reports of BJP leaders, party members, and affiliated Booth Level Agents storming the offices of SDOs and DMs as well as exerting undue pressure on EROs and AEROs to force the bulk submission of Form 7 for mass deletion of voters,” stated the TMC in a post on X.

“Individuals are reportedly being brought in from states like Bihar and Jharkhand, with vehicles loaded with thousands of such forms for submission in one go,” it added.

(With agency inputs)