Electoral Turmoil: Allegations of Manipulation in West Bengal's Voter Rolls

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of manipulating the Special Intensive Revision process in West Bengal. Allegations include the use of software to delete voters, appointing biased officers, and rushing the process. Legal interventions are ongoing to address the discrepancies.

In a significant escalation of electoral tensions, Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale has called for the jailing of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging substantial irregularities in West Bengal's voter revision process. Gokhale accuses the CEC of utilizing clandestine software to expunge 1.67 crore voters and fast-tracking the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.

The embroiled MP contends that the Election Commission of India manipulated the revision, appointing 'BJP-friendly' officers and relying on dubious software that mismatched voters' names due to AI translation errors from Bengali to English. This mistranslation flagged voters as discrepancies, risking the deletion of 8 million valid entries.

Judicial interventions are underway, with the Supreme Court mandating district judges to oversee hearings to address 95 lakh voter discrepancies. This legal step follows the Calcutta High Court's appeal for extended time to complete hearings, leading to the inclusion of Odisha and Jharkhand judges to meet the looming deadline.

(With inputs from agencies.)