Include all 18 plus in voter list, dont exclude on religious identity: Mamata to officers

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday directed officials involved in updating voter lists to include all those who have attained 18 years of age and not to exclude anyone on the basis of religious identity.

Speaking at an administrative meeting here, Banerjee alleged that a “conspiracy is being hatched, and around 30 per cent of voters living in some border areas in other states have been excluded from the new lists.

“I request officers to include everybodys name as per the Election Commissions rule. They must include all those who have turned 18, and should not exclude anyone on the basis of a persons religious identity.

“A conspiracy is being hatched and around 30 per cent of voters residing in some border areas have been excluded from the new lists. These have not happened in our state but in some other states and we must learn a lesson from these,” Banerjee claimed.

The CM also alleged that some “officials involved in the process deliberately make mistakes while updating the details of voters”.

She directed the district magistrates and the superintendents of police to keep an eye on the preparation of the voter lists to check whether there is any wrongdoing or not.

“The DMs, SPs must pay surprise visits to camps where voter lists are prepared. MLAs, Zilla Parishad members must keep a watch on it as well. At times, officials come in the afternoon after lunch and thus people are not able to update their details. This is a serious job.one cannot be deprived of a voter card. Do not forget that this list will be used to hold elections,” Banerjee said at the meeting.

According to a draft electoral roll published on Wednesday, West Bengal has 7,42,88,233 voters, 12,577 less than the year-ago count.

She also advised officials to arrange for stalls for updating voter lists at the ongoing Duare Sarkar (government at doorsteps) camps to help people easily get the facility.

Banerjee had on Wednesday accused the BJP of trying to omit eligible electorates from the voters lists and asked her party leaders to remain cautious when the revision of electoral rolls starts this week.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)