Left parties including CPI(M), CPI(ML) Liberation and CPI organised a joint protest march in Kolkata on 11 April from Dharmatala to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, protesting against the Election Commission’s move to curtail voting rights in the name of SIR. The protest saw participation of leaders and activists from various Left organisations, who raised strong slogans against what they described as an organised attempt to disenfranchise large sections of voters in West Bengal.
Addressing the march, CPIML Liberation State Secretary Abhijit Mazumdar said that the developments in West Bengal are shocking, with voting rights of millions being taken away without any fault on their part. He pointed out that nearly twenty seven lakh voters who had exercised their franchise in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are now being denied their voting rights.
He said that the principle of eligibility has been turned upside down, where voting is no longer being treated as a basic democratic right but is being reduced to a matter of privilege and uncertainty. He said that any election conducted after removing millions of voters from the electoral rolls will be nothing but a farce at the most fundamental level.
He asserted that the people of West Bengal will give a fitting rebuff to those who seek to purge the electors to grab power.
