Trinamool Congress General Secretary and Lok Sabha MP, Abhishek Banerjee, has challenged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to promptly release a separate list of 1.36 crore voters identified as “logical discrepancy” cases during progeny-mapping. Banerjee has threatened to stage a protest at the ECI headquarters in New Delhi if this list is not made public. He plans to meet the Chief Election Commissioner on December 31 to press for the publication of this list.
These “logical discrepancy” cases involve voters with irregular family-tree data, such as individuals becoming fathers at the age of 15 or younger, grandfathers at 40 or younger, or having parents with identical names. These cases will undergo hearings in the second stage of the claims and objections process for the draft voters’ list.
Abhishek Banerjee, addressing the media, raised concerns about the sudden revelation of 1.35 crore “logical discrepancy” cases by the ECI, questioning the speed and method of data collection. He criticized the selective disclosure of this information through WhatsApp instead of an official press release. Banerjee also accused the ECI’s Director General (Information Technology) of involvement in the issue and questioned her authority in the electoral revision process.
The Trinamool Congress General Secretary further criticized the ECI for not extending the deadline for the Special Summary Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal, unlike in other states. He highlighted the distress caused to the people of West Bengal due to the rushed revision process, citing instances of suicide attempts by individuals, including booth-level officers. Banerjee also called out the silence of elected BJP Lok Sabha members regarding the delay in releasing funds to the West Bengal government for Central-sponsored welfare schemes.
