West Bengal Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari met Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal on Monday, pressing a list of demands and issuing a pointed appeal to the Commission regarding the crucial hearing phase of the voter list revision.
Adhikari, who has persistently accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of manipulating the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), reiterated that the ruling party is allegedly working with IPAC to insert fake and deceased voters into the rolls to safeguard its vote bank. He stressed that the upcoming hearing phase holds “heightened importance”.
Addressing the meeting, Adhikari urged the Commission to ensure that all hearings take place under active CCTV surveillance.
He insisted that the system must not be disabled midway as he claims happened during the Lok Sabha elections. According to him, CCTV or webcasting should remain operational throughout the proceedings and monitored directly from the Commission’s control room.
While acknowledging that state government officers will inevitably conduct the hearings, he demanded the deployment of an “impartial micro-observer” at each venue.
“We want fairness, not favour,” the Bharatiya Janata Party leader asserted.
Adhikari also requested that entries made between November 26 and 28 undergo a special audit by both a Commission-appointed observer and the technical team, using AI photo scan and other modern verification tools. He repeated his allegation that nearly 5,000 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were involved in irregularities, claiming no corrective action has been taken in two months.
He further argued that illegal voters have infiltrated at least 220 of the state’s 294 assembly constituencies, with numbers ranging from 50 to 150 per seat. He cited data from 17,111 booths as “evidence” to support his allegation.
The Opposition Leader told the CEO that political party representatives are allegedly being stopped illegally from entering the CEO office. He demanded accountability for such actions.
Adhikari also claimed to have received information that the CEO office is being relocated. He urged that the move be fast-tracked and that central forces be deployed immediately at the new location to ensure neutrality and security.
Also read: I-PAC, police pressurised BJP workers for defection: Suvendu
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