Shashi Tharoor Highlights Voter Roll Issues in BJP's West Bengal Win and Congress' Kerala Victory
'SIR likely a reason for BJP's West Bengal win, Congress' Kerala victory': Shashi Tharoor
Hindustan Times
Image: Hindustan Times
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor attributed the BJP's recent electoral success in West Bengal to issues with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, noting that many eligible voters were unable to vote due to unresolved appeals. In contrast, he suggested that Congress benefited from similar processes in Kerala, where voter roll cleanup reduced fraudulent registrations.
- 01Shashi Tharoor linked the BJP's West Bengal victory to unresolved voter roll appeals.
- 0291 lakh names were removed from voter rolls in West Bengal, with 34 lakh appeals pending.
- 03The BJP won by a margin of 30 lakh votes, closely matching the number of unresolved appeals.
- 04In Kerala, the Congress party benefited from the cleanup of inflated voter lists.
- 05The recent elections saw contrasting outcomes for the BJP and Congress in West Bengal and Kerala.
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Shashi Tharoor, a member of the Indian National Congress, highlighted the impact of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls on recent election outcomes in West Bengal and Kerala. He pointed out that in West Bengal, 91 lakh names were struck off the voter rolls, leading to 34 lakh appeals from individuals claiming their right to vote. However, only a few hundred of these cases were resolved before the elections, raising concerns about the fairness of the BJP's victory by a margin of 30 lakh votes. In contrast, Tharoor noted that the Congress party may have benefited from the SIR process in Kerala, which effectively cleaned up inflated voter lists historically associated with rival parties. The Congress-led United Democratic Front secured 102 of the 140 seats in the Kerala assembly, ending the Left's decade-long rule, while the BJP won 207 seats in West Bengal, marking a significant political shift in the region.
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The unresolved voter appeals in West Bengal may have disenfranchised eligible voters, potentially impacting future elections and voter confidence.
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