Trinamul Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra today alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has added nearly 32 lakh “unmapped” cases to the ‘Logical Discrepancy’ (LD) list in West Bengal with the intention of confusing voters, despite clear directions from the Supreme Court to make all LD cases public in a transparent manner.
After meeting the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, for the second time in a week, Ms Moitra said the meeting was held after the recent Supreme Court hearing which, she claimed, had categorically directed that “harassment of people in Bengal should stop”. According to her, the apex court had also ordered that details of LD cases ~ numbering over 1.3 crore ~ be clearly published for public scrutiny. “They took time till the 24 to publish the list, and even then they published LD and unmapped cases together,” she alleged.
“About 32 lakh unmapped cases have been inserted into the LD list. This is meant to confuse and muddle voters further. Inside this list, some are marked LD, some UD. We are dealing with people who are not highly educated,” Ms Moitra said, raising serious objections to the appointment and role of micro-observers in the ongoing electoral process. She said the CEO had repeatedly maintained that decisions were being taken by the ECI in Delhi, but documents suggested otherwise. “We showed him a letter dated 19 December from the Election Commission, which clearly states that the CEO of West Bengal had sought micro-observers and was permitted to appoint ERMOs,” she said.
Questioning the legality of such appointments, the TMC MP argued that there was no provision for micro-observers under the Representation of the People Act, the 2009 ECI guidelines, or the 2023 manual.