Abhishek Banerjee demands nationwide voter roll revision, dissolution of Lok Sabha
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Kolkata: Trinamool Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha leader Abhishek Banerjee has challenged the BJP-led central government to dissolve the Lok Sabha and direct the Election Commission of India (ECI) to carry out a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across the country, rather than only in states heading for elections.
In a post on social media, Banerjee accused the government of betraying the people after the ECI said voter lists in various states contained irregularities.
“The EC has stated that the voter lists across various states on the basis of which the GENERAL ELECTIONS were held barely a year ago in 2024 are FAULTY and riddled with IRREGULARITIES,” he wrote.
“If that is indeed the case, and if the GoI agrees with the EC’s assessment, then the first step towards conducting a genuine SIR and STANDING ON MORAL HIGH GROUND is the IMMEDIATE DISSOLUTION OF LOK SABHA. If one truly supports the idea of SIR, then as per the EC’s own statement - THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY HAVE BEEN BETRAYED,” he added.
Banerjee said the SIR should be conducted nationwide if the new Chief Election Commissioner is “as competent as claimed”, and not selectively in poll-bound states.
Speaking to reporters at Kolkata Airport on Tuesday, he argued that if the SIR was necessary due to manipulation of voter rolls, it must also be accepted that the last Lok Sabha elections were held on a flawed list.
“So the current Parliament should be dismantled. Since the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister were elected by that manipulated voters' list, they should also resign. In the meantime, there were Assembly elections in some states, with a manipulated voters,” he said.
Banerjee also called for legal action against former Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, under whose tenure elections were held using the “manipulated” rolls.
The ECI on Monday issued a fact-check dismissing as “incorrect” the Opposition’s allegations of voter list manipulation.