West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari Monday expressed concerns over an alleged increase in voter registration applications and the issuance of domicile certificates in the border districts, claiming that this is an attempt by the state administration to legitimise “infiltrating Rohingya Muslims and illegal Bangladeshi immigrants”.
Sharing a copy of a letter he wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on July 26, the BJP leader wrote on X, “A disturbing trend has emerged in West Bengal’s border districts. Over 70,000 Form-6 applications have been submitted on average in the last week, a sharp rise from the usual 20,000-25,000, especially in Coochbehar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Maldah, North Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia, and North & South 24 Parganas districts.” Form-6 is used for registering as a new voter for the first time.
He said this surge, coupled with reports of domicile certificates being issued, raises concerns about the government’s “unethical and illegal efforts” to facilitate the “legitimising of the infiltrating Rohingya Muslims and illegal Bangladeshi immigrants” to manipulate voter lists.
Adhikari has urged the CEC not to accept any domicile certificates issued after July 25, during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, if such an activity is conducted in West Bengal. He said this step is crucial to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process”. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday started training booth-level officers (BLOs) in West Bengal, amid speculations that the SIR of electoral rolls, similar to the one being held in neighbouring poll-bound Bihar, will be held in the state, too.
Adhikari alleged in his letter that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s offfice has issued directives to the district magistrates (DMs) and subdivisional magistrates (SDMs) of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Malda, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, and Coochbehar districts for hte issuance of a large number of domicile certificates in these border districts with Bangladesh.
“The integrity of our Democracy must be protected and can’t be allowed to get diluted for vested interests of Vote Bank Politics. The District Election Officers must remember that they are entrusted with the responsibility of conducting free and fair elections, and their allegiance is with the country and protecting the interests of the country,” he wrote.
Earlier, on Saturday, Saturday Adhikari said the Bengal BJP would take to the streets from August 17 demanding a “Rohingya-free Bengal” in a bid to counter Trinamool’s “Bangla-Bangali” narrative in the run-up to next year’s Assembly elections.
“Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee gifted this homeland to Bengali Hindus, and we will protect it,” Adhikari said.