Didi to sit in protest over name removal after SIR

WEST Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee will hold a sit-in protest demonstration at Esplanade Metro Channel in the heart of the city from March 6 against the final list of the post-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) electoral rolls in the state.

- SUBHENDU MAITI @Kolkata

On February 28, the Election Commission of India (ECI) published the final post-SIR list, deleting names of 63.66 lakh voters, including more than 58 lakh absentees, shifted, dead, and duplicate (ASDD) electors during the first phase of the SIR exercise. It removed another 5 lakhs after the completion of the SIR hearings, prompting the TMC led by Mamata to intensify its protest against the removal of such a massive number of electors.

Besides the 63.66 lakh deleted voters, more than 60 lakh electors belonging to the logical discrepancies and unmapped categories, respectively, have been marked as ‘under adjudication’ on the final list. They are awaiting clearance of the judicial officers to retain their voting rights.