BJP claims voter list still has name of Bengal minister's deceased father; Trinamool blames it on ECI

Kolkata, Aug 19 The BJP has alleged that the name of West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu's deceased father, a famous playwright, is on the voter list even decades after his demise.

BJP leader Piyush Kanoria claimed that the Education Minister's father, Bishnu Basu, passed away in 1999, but his name is still in the West Bengal voters' list for 2024-25.

"On one hand, the state government is claiming that a transparent voter list is being prepared, while on the other hand, the name of a citizen who died 25 years ago is still in the voters' list. This proves that there is negligence in preparing the voters' list. Including the names of the deceased in the list means creating opportunities for Trinamool Congress to conduct rigging in the elections," said Kanoria.

The BJP leader said that a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal is required to weed out such names of deceased persons from the voters' list.

Responding to the BJP leader's claim, Trinamool state general secretary and spokesperson, Kunal Ghosh, on Tuesday, blamed the Election Commission for "non-deletion" of the name.

"The responsibility of deleting the name is the Election Commission's. No one voted in the name of Bratya Basu's father. His father passed away a long time ago. The Election Commission did not delete that name. The responsibility for this lies with the commission," said Ghosh.

The Trinamool Congress leader added, "Bratya Basu's father was a prominent citizen of the area (Dum Dum). No one went to vote in his name. If anyone had gone, the opposition agents would have told them that he is no more."

Notably, Trinamool Congress has been opposing SIR in West Bengal.

According to political observers, the instance of names of deceased persons remaining in the voters' list is not new.

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