Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged that the Election Commission (EC) had deleted 54 lakh names from the draft electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state, without allowing voters to defend themselves.
Banerjee, addressing a press conference at the state secretariat Nabanna, claimed that the deletions were carried out by misusing the powers of electoral registration officers (EROs) and largely affected what she described as “genuine electors,” reported PTI news agency.
According to her, a significant number of the deleted entries belonged to legitimate voters who were wrongfully excluded during the SIR process. She further alleged that those whose names were removed were not even informed about the grounds for deletion, leaving them no chance to respond or contest the decision.
“The EC, while sitting in Delhi, used AI tools devised by the BJP to delete names. These AI software accounted for the name mismatch in SIR data. They deleted names of women who changed surnames post marriage,” PTI report quoted Banerjee as saying.
She further claimed that errors arising from AI-driven digitization led to mismatches in voter records, disproportionately impacting women and others whose personal details had legitimately changed over time.
