'ECI should clarify number of illegal B'deshi or Rohingya infiltrators in deleted Bengal voter list'

KOLKATA,  (IANS): Trinamool Congress General Secretary and the party's Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to clarify the exact number of illegal Bangladeshi or Rohingya infiltrators in the list of 58.20 lakh voters whose names have been deleted from the draft voters' list in West Bengal, which was published on December 16 last year.

“The BJP is unable to make any electoral progress in West Bengal. That is why they are harassing the people of the state through the Election Commission in the name of the Special Intensive Revision. I am asking for the exact number of illegal Bangladeshi or Rohingya infiltrators in the list of voters who have already been excluded,” Banerjee told media persons at Balurghat in South Dinajpur district of West Bengal, after meeting two local migrant workers who were allegedly arrested and heckled in Maharashtra recently on suspicion that they were Bangladeshis.

Speaking on the occasion, he also claimed that due to pressure and panic created by the revision exercise, a total of 65 individuals in West Bengal, including some booth-level officers (BLOs), have died since the exercise began in November last year.

“Who is responsible for these unfortunate deaths? What is the reason for this anger towards the people of West Bengal?” Banerjee questioned.

He also accused the BJP Lok Sabha member from Balurghat and Union Minister of State Sukanta Majumdar of not taking responsibility for the two migrant workers from the region who were arrested and heckled in Maharashtra recently.

“Politics is meant for the welfare of the people. Does Majumdar have no responsibility towards the people who elected him to the Lok Sabha? People want to know his contribution towards the development of his constituency. I challenge him to release a report card in this regard,” Banerjee said.

He further said that the two local migrant workers were arrested and heckled in Maharashtra solely because they were Bengali-speaking individuals.

“Majumdar is also a Bengali-speaking individual. So by that logic, he is also a Bangladeshi,” the Trinamool Congress General Secretary said.