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New Delhi, October 27 (IANS) Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Monday termed all speculations of disagreement between the ECI and the West Bengal government on the issue of special intensive revision of voter lists as imaginary.
Briefing media persons about the Election Commission of India (ECI) program to conduct SIR in 12 states and union territories, CEC Gyanesh Kumar said, “There is no difference of opinion regarding SIR in West Bengal.”
“All constitutional institutions perform their functions as per the Constitution. By preparing to conduct the SIR, the Election Commission is performing its constitutional duty and in the same manner, every state government will also perform its duty,” he said.
His response came after a question about possible resistance to the SIR exercise by the West Bengal government, as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has reportedly voiced her opposition to the revision of the voter list.
Gyanesh Kumar indicated that there is no possibility of state governments and their departments not being involved in SIR efforts.
He said that, like all constitutional institutions, state governments are also obliged to provide the means, including personnel and security cover, to organize the SIR and conduct the elections.
Taking forward the lessons learned by the ECI in Bihar SIR, some additional instructions will also be issued for practice in these 12 states and union territories, he said.
The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal is said to be against the idea of conducting the exercise and has been consistently claiming that the SIR is an indirect ploy by the central government and the BJP to implement NRC in the state.
Trinamool Congress sources said a mega anti-SIR rally is likely to be held in Kolkata in the first week of November. The key speakers during the program will be West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and party general secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee.
Earlier this month, CM Banerjee had said that she would not tolerate deletion of names of voters from any particular community after revision of the voter list.
He also accused the ECI of being unnecessarily hasty in initiating and completing the SIR process in West Bengal at a time when, on the one hand, it is the festival season in West Bengal and on the other hand, many people in rain and landslide affected areas in North Bengal are struggling to come out of the crisis as a result of the natural disaster.
“If due to this unnecessary haste the names of people from a particular community are removed from the voter list in the state, I will not tolerate it. I am asking them (ECI) not to play with fire. The crisis is still there due to the natural disaster in West Bengal. Many people’s houses have been washed away due to floods. In such a situation, where will they submit the documents required for SIR? Some people are on leave due to the ongoing holiday. Festive Season. How will they submit the documents?” the Chief Minister asked while addressing media persons on October 9.
–IANS
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