'Hindi-speaking Hindu voters in Bengal targeted in the name of voters’ list review'

Kolkata, March 24 (IANS) The Hindi-speaking Hindu voters and even some Bengali-speaking voters from the backward communities are being targeted by the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal in 'close association' with some officials in the state administration, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari told the mediapersons on Monday. 

To substantiate his statement, Leader of Opposition highlighted some complaints received by BJP’s state unit in West Bengal where the voters concerned have been asked to prove their Indian origin and more especially to prove that they are not Bangladeshi citizens.

The examples highlighted by Adhikari in the matter are mainly related to Bagda in North 24 Parganas district and Krishnanagar in Nadia district, where two block development officers (BDOs) have been accused of harassing the common voters in such a manner.

“We are appealing to the Election Commission of India to take action against these two BDOs. We have also updated our central leadership on the matter and they will be taking up the matter on the right platform. There is a deliberate attempt to target the Hindi-speaking Hindu voters and Bengali-speaking voters coming from backward communities,” the leader of the opposition said.

He said that the process started when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, at a public meeting in February this year, indirectly targeted the Hindi-speaking voters in the state and branded them as bogus voters.

“Since then, her party machinery in association with some confidant officers in the administration has started targeting and harassing these sections of the voters. We will also be organising peaceful protest rallies against such moves at places where such harassment of innocent voters is taking place,” the Leader of the Opposition said.

According to him, the ruling party had especially targeted the Hindi-speaking Hindu voters and some Bengal-speaking voters from the backward class communities since they rejected the Trinamool Congress in subsequent elections.

"The ruling party is trying to identify such voters and get their names deleted from the lists in association with an outsourced agency,” the Leader of the Opposition alleged.

To recall, while addressing a party programme in February this year, the Chief Minister had accused BJP of using two outsourced agencies to enlist voters from other states like Haryana and Gujarat as voters in West Bengal. She also announced the formation of a core committee of Trinamool Congress to identify such voters.