Trinamul Congress today urged the Election Commission of India to clarify as to how many Form 7 an individual can submit.
A five-member Trinamul Congress delegation met the CEO Manoj Agarwal and submitted a memorandum seeking this clarification.
The matter came to light after two BJP workers with thousands of Form 7 were intercepted by the police in Bankura. They were travelling in a vehicle. Three others left the spot. The police are conducting an inquiry into the matter.
A TMC delegation met Mr Agarwal and submitted the memorandum. The delegation consisted of Dr Shashi Oanja and Dr Manas Bhuniya, both ministers, Partha Bhowmik and Sayoni Ghosh , both MPs and Samir Chakraborty, a former MLA.
Addressing the media after meeting Mr Agarwal, Mr Bhowmik said filled-up Form 7s have been recovered from different areas. “We have requested the CEO to clarify how many Form 7s an individual can submit.”
“This fraud is not limited to Bankura. Alarming reports have emerged from English Bazar in Malda, Ranibandh and Taldangra in Bankura, Moyna and Tamluk in Purba Medinipur, Chunchura and Chandannagar in Hooghly, Barrackpore in North 24-Parganas, and Jorasanko in Kolkata Individuals are reportedly being brought in from states like Bihar and Jharkhand specifically to submit these fraudulent forms. Yesterday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also stated that their intention is to strike off the names of women voters. We strongly protest this. No one has the courage to remove the names of women,” said Mr Bhowmik.
He further alleged that during the SIR hearings, old and infirm people have been harassed. He said: “After deleting the names of 58 lakh voters, the ECI has now gone for logical discrepancies and proposes to delete the names of further 1.36 crore voters. The ECI, which is working as a stooge of the saffron party, is trying to help the BJP. We will not sit idle if the name of a genuine voter is deleted.”
Chandrima Bhattacharya said Trinamul Congress has demanded a thorough investigation into the stealing of forms by the BJP workers in connivance with some compromised officials.
She alleged that some micro observers are putting pressure on the AROs and demanded that this needs to be stopped.
“It is shocking that a political party is trying all sorts of tricks to win an election in a state violating the democratic norms,” she said.