Kolkata, 12 November (IANS). Trinamool Congress (TMC) will raise two main questions regarding the current review process in its petition filed against the Special Intensive Review (SIR) being conducted by the Election Commission in West Bengal, during the hearing in the Supreme Court.
Speaking to media persons on Wednesday, TMC MP and senior Calcutta High Court advocate Kalyan Banerjee said the Commission’s decision to accept the 2002 voter list as the basis for the current process is not acceptable as there has been a major change in the layout of the Lok Sabha and a change in the assembly constituencies after the delimitation process completed in 2008.
Kalyan Banerjee said that in 2002 when the last SIR was conducted, many constituencies ceased to exist after delimitation. Similarly, after delimitation, some new constituencies were formed which did not exist earlier. Then how can those non-existent assembly constituencies be the basis of the current amendment process? This will be our first argument during the hearing of this case in the Supreme Court.
The second issue to be raised by the TMC will be how the Commission can delete the names of some voters in the state or ask them to apply afresh when they have already voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The main demand of Trinamool Congress in its petition filed in the Supreme Court is to stop the SIR process.
When asked whether the Court can stay the decision of a constitutional body like the Election Commission of India, Kalyan Banerjee said that at least the Supreme Court can give valuable guidance regarding changes in the current amendment process.
Meanwhile, a new deadline of November 14 was set to complete the process of distribution of enumeration forms in the state. The previously scheduled deadline of November 11 had already passed on Tuesday, and the distribution of counting forms for about 15 per cent of voters has still not been completed.
–IANS
PSK/DKP
