Kolkata: Even after the Election Commission of India (ECI) had issued statement over the issue of duplication of voter ID card numbers and assured that it will resolve the issue in the next three months, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) will continue to mount pressure on the poll body till all the “fake” voter cards are busted.
The unyielding mentality of the ruling party in Bengal is evident as it is sending a delegation to the ECI in Delhi on Tuesday to appraise party’s grievances on the duplicate Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers. Trinamool Congress top brasses are not taking the issue lightly as they know that the voters from different states who have same EPIC card numbers like many genuine voters across Bengal, if allowed to vote in Bengal, can jeopardise the poll process.
A 10-member delegation from Trinamool Congress will meet the full bench of the Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday drawing attention of the ECI to a range of issues relating to the ‘duplicate’ EPIC cards. TMC is the first party to approach the apex poll body in connection with alleged duplicate EPIc cards. Many Opposition parties are also set to raise the duplicate EPIC number issue in the Parliament as the second leg of the Budget Session commences on Monday. Meanwhile, BJP will also meet ECI on February 11 alleging that in Bengal there are 17 lakh ‘fake’ voters.
TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee will hold the virtual meeting on March 15 at 4 pm taking stock of the progress of identifying ‘fake’ voters, sources said. All the members of the party’s state committee, district presidents and heads of the various party wings will join the meeting. The detailed progress reports would be sought from the leaders at different levels.
Interestingly, when the Trinamool Congress and its chief Mamata Banerjee was in Opposition in the state, they had raised their voice several times against the erstwhile Left Front government for rigging during the election. In 1993, it was Mamata Banerjee who gave a clarion call “no ID card, no vote” to restore democracy. It happened on July 21 which is commemorated as Martyrs’ Day after many protestors were killed. But now, Banerjee is the sitting Chief Minister and she has been continuing her protest against the ruling dispensation at the Centre as she often alleged that ECI was attempting to give a favour to the BJP-led government at the Centre. The BJP, on the other hand, will also exploit all its resources to make some dent on the Trinamool Congress’ vote base.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien on Saturday made an announcement about the meeting. Apart from O’Brien, the TMC delegation will include senior leader and legal expert Kalyan Banerjee, Lok Sabha MPs Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Kirti Azad and Rajya Sabha MPs Sagarika Ghose, Saket Gokhale, among others. His announcement comes amid a raging controversy, most recently in Bengal, where the TMC on February 27 accused the Election Commission of manipulating records in a way that amounted to fraud and gave an advantage to its rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“We sought time from the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and he has agreed to meet us. The TMC delegation will meet the CEC at 5.30 pm on Tuesday,” O’Brien had told reporters.
Another senior party leader from Trinamool Congress said that as EPIC numbers are linked to voter details, a duplicate EPIC number will lead to denial of voting rights. Trinamool Congress on Friday said that the ECI finally “admitted and accepted” their guilt in connection with duplicate EPIC numbers, as the poll panel issued a second statement on the issue.