Bengal BJP chief says won’t allow polls if SIR obstructed

WEST Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharyya on Tuesday issued a firm warning to the Election Commission (EC), saying the party wouldn't allow the upcoming polls to be held in the state, if the party’s claims and objections regarding the published draft voters’ list in the SIR were not honoured.

- SUBHENDU MAITI @Kolkata

Bhattacharyya claimed that while BJP workers had carried out thorough booth-level scrutiny to identify residents and nonresidents to ascertain the accuracy of the published rolls, and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and their deputies (AEROs) were refusing to accept their objections raised through the EC’s Form 7.

He asked Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to pay an on-the-spot visit to Bengal to review what is going on in connection with SIR process in the state.