In Shorts
- Mamata Banerjee claims 54 lakh voters were removed using AI during the Special Intensive Revision exercise.
- The Chief Minister warns the BJP’s plan amounts to voter suppression ahead of West Bengal polls.
- She demands accountability and urges supporters to defend voting rights.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee intensified her criticism of the electoral roll revision process on Tuesday, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party and central forces of deploying artificial intelligence to erase the names of millions of voters. Speaking at a rally in Bankura district, Banerjee said the deletion of 54 lakh names from the voter list amounted to a deliberate attempt to undermine democratic rights and tilt the electoral landscape.
Banerjee described the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls as a politically motivated exercise that is being rushed through with the help of advanced technology. She warned that this process was inflicting hardship on ordinary citizens and could disenfranchise eligible voters ahead of the crucial 2026 West Bengal assembly election. According to her, the SIR has become a tool to manipulate the electoral process rather than strengthen it.
Alleging that members of the BJP’s IT cell were operating from inside the Election Commission’s office in Delhi, Banerjee suggested that artificial intelligence was being used to falsely attribute deletions to local officials. She pointed to letters from Electoral Registration Officers asserting they were not responsible for these actions, implying external interference was at play.
In her address, the chief minister also seized on cases where minor spelling differences in names — such as Singh versus Sinha — led to removals from the draft voter list. She urged affected voters to reapply for registration using official forms and assured them that this was their constitutional right.
Banerjee’s comments reflect growing political tension in West Bengal as election season draws near. She demanded that Booth Level Agents be allowed to attend hearings related to the voter list revisions and pledged that her party would challenge any unjust exclusions in court or through mass protests. Her remarks come amid broader accusations of harassment and administrative bias linked to the SIR process.
The chief minister’s forceful critique underscores the deepening electoral battle in West Bengal, where the stakes are high for both the Trinamool Congress and the BJP as they vie for control in one of India’s most politically significant states.
Leave a Reply