70 percent of 'deleted voters' in Bengal are Muslims .... 57 per cent from districts along Bangladesh border :::: "Mamata Banerjee rushed to Supreme Court to save Bangladeshi infiltrators"

 West Bengal SIR: 57% deleted voters from districts along Bangladesh border, 70% of them Muslims  

Over 40% Muslims among those removed from electoral rolls in Mamata's Bhawanipore 

If such a large number of the deleted voters are from the bordering districts, it will certainly strengthen BJP's narrative.  

“ Chief minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to the Supreme Court to save the Bangladeshi infiltrators whom she helped to settle in Bengal ....She, however, remained silent when women were tortured and killed in different parts of the state, right from Sandeskhali to Kamduni to RG Kar (hospital) to Park Street,” BJP national president Nitin Nabin in Alipurduar in North Bengal. 

The Trinamool Congress had done exceedingly well in the 10 districts in the 2021 Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. But post-SIR, the TMC has reasons to be irked. 

In most assembly segments more than 30,000 voters have been deleted. As a significant number of Muslim voters reside in most bordering districts, the contest could be close in the constituencies where Trinamool Congress was ahead by a margin of less than 20,000. 

It is revealed now that voters of districts bordering Bangladesh failed to produce papers specified by the poll panel in larger numbers compared to the 13 other districts.

The total number of deleted voters from the border districts of 

- Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia,

Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, 

North and South Dinajpur, 

 South and North 24-Parganas is 52.24 lakh.  

Further analysis shows - 

In 2021, Trinamool Congress had won 110 of the 151 Assembly

seats in these districts

And the BJP had managed victories only in 41. 

In 2024, Trinamool was ahead in 91 Assembly segments in this area, while the BJP led in 48. 

The Congress-Left Front combine was ahead in 12 seats. 

Blogger 

In the 2021 Assembly polls, Trinamool had won 21 of the 151 seats in the 10 border districts by margins of less than 20,000 votes. 

In 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the number of such segments that gave lead to Trinamool was 41.  

In the 11 seats in Kolkata -- the battle between Trinamool and the BJP could become more interesting.

The Trinamool had won all 11 seats in Kolkata in the 2021 Assembly polls. 

But in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the ruling party was ahead in nine Assembly segments, while the BJP led in two.

Trinamool was ahead of the BJP by margins of less than 20,000 in five of these nine segments. 

These segments also have a substantial concentration of minorities.

These include Rashbehari, Bhabanipur and Chowringhee. 

What should make BJP feel joyous and Mamata aggrieved is that number of voters deleted post- SIR in these Assembly segments is higher than the vote difference between Trinamool and the BJP in 2024.  

Trinamool’s 2024 lead margin was 8,297 votes in Bhawanipore, 1,691 in Rashbehari, 14,645 in Chowringhee, 3,575 in Manicktala and 7,268 in Kashipur-Belgachia.

The BJP leaders had claimed that the SIR would remove from the voter list Muslims from Bangladesh who were illegally staying in India and had even made it to the electoral rolls. 

Mamata Banerjee had won the Bhawanipore Assembly seat by a record margin of 58,832 votes in the September 2021 by-poll. However, Trinamool got just 8,297 votes more than the BJP in the segment under Kolkata South Lok Sabha seat in 2024. 

When the Election Commission published the preliminary “final” post-SIR list on February 28, Bhawanipore had 14,113 names under adjudication. 

The subsequent supplementary lists showed that 3,875 of 14,113 names have been deleted. 

Among those deleted after adjudication, 1,554 are Muslims 

.....  and 2,321 non-Muslims.

ends