Suvendu claims Mamata responsible for deletion of 27 lakh names in Bengal SIR, not BJP or ECI

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari accused former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of being responsible for the deletion of 27 lakh names from the state's electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), stating that neither the BJP nor the Election Commission (ECI) could be held accountable. Adhikari alleged that judicial officers followed Supreme Court directives in a case filed by Banerjee herself, and accused her of attempting to shift blame after losing the Assembly elections.

The Chief Minister made these remarks at a press conference, amid ongoing political tensions over the SIR exercise. Banerjee's party has claimed that genuine voters were removed from the electoral rolls and demanded their restoration. Adhikari also sought to link the SIR controversy to a broader issue of electoral accountability, questioning why similar actions were not taken in Kerala, where the BJP and the Election Commission were praised for the SIR process.

He further criticized Banerjee for refusing to accept the people's verdict, pointing to her party's significant defeat in the recent elections. The Chief Minister's comments followed Banerjee's recent rally in Serampore, where she intensified her criticism of the ECI and the BJP over the voter-roll revision. Adhikari also referenced a meeting between Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and two Election Commissioners - Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi - claiming that the decisions regarding the Bengal SIR were not solely made by the CEC.

This assertion comes amid controversy over the functioning of the Election Commission following an Indian Express investigation, which reported that the two election commissioners had raised objections to SIR-related decisions on multiple occasions. The Election Commission, however, maintained that differences in internal deliberations were normal and that its final decisions were unanimous.