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ISLAMABAD: Amid allegations of misconduct in the West Bengal elections by the Election Commission of India and the ruling BJP, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee refused to resign and to go to Raj Bhavan (Governor&rsquo;s Residence) during a Tuesday press conference, local media reported.&nbsp;After a ruling party is removed from power, it is customary in India for the chief minister to go to the State Governor&#39;s residence and submit their resignation to the Governor.&nbsp;The West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, however, has vowed not to do so, claiming that she has not been defeated and that &quot;the question does not arise for her to go to Raj Bhavan.&quot;&nbsp;Banerjee called the Indian Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, the &ldquo;villain of this election,&rdquo; and alleged that the Election Commission &ldquo;looted&rdquo; the electronic voting machines and the democratic rights of the Bengali people. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2051623385093075161&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fmedia-library%2F&sessionId=6764356bf78f1f599ddd25af124c2d2417e39a66&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 624px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>Mamata has also accused the Election Commission of working at the behest of the ruling party in the center, the BJP.&nbsp;&quot;Two days before the election, they started arresting our people. They started raiding everywhere. They changed all IPS and IAS officers. They selected people from their party, and the BJP played the game directly with the Election Commission. It is a battle between the BJP and the Election Commission,&quot; Banerjee said.&nbsp;She also lamented the reduction of Bengal&rsquo;s electorate by more than 9 million voters under the infamous Special Intensive Revision, saying that Indian PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were actively complicit.&nbsp;The BJP won a two-thirds majority in West Bengal&#39;s controversial elections, defeating Banerjee&rsquo;s TMC, which had been in power for three consecutive terms.

India

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claims she has not been defeated; accuses Election Commission of working at the behest of the BJP.

India: Banerjee refuses to resign after accusing BJP of rigging elections

ISLAMABAD: Under heavy allegations of poll rigging by the Bharatiya Janata Party, voting for Phase 2 of the West Bengal Assembly elections took place on April 29 across 142 constituencies, marking a decisive stage in the high-stakes contest between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP. More than 32 million voters were eligible to cast ballots across key districts, including Kolkata, Howrah and North and South 24 Parganas, according to ABP Live, as polling covered the politically crucial southern belt of the state.&nbsp; Even as voting progressed, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of attempting to &ldquo;forcefully rig&rdquo; the elections, alleging that central forces deployed in the state were acting under political influence and intimidating voters, according to The Times of India.&nbsp; Banerjee also alleged that the Central Reserve Police Force was behaving in a partisan manner, claiming that voters and party workers were being harassed and threatened, according to The Economic Times.&nbsp; Reports from the ground pointed to tensions and sporadic incidents of violence. Police confirmed that cases of vandalism and unrest were reported in several areas during the early hours of polling, according to The Wire.&nbsp; NDTV also reported incidents of violence and malfunctioning electronic voting machines in parts of the state.&nbsp; The Election Commission significantly increased security deployment, with central forces stationed across sensitive constituencies and more than 2,400 people detained in a pre-poll crackdown, according to official updates reported by The Times of India.&nbsp; Despite the allegations and tensions, voter participation remained exceptionally high. Phase 2 recorded turnout levels exceeding 90%, contributing to a record overall turnout of more than 92%, according to The Economic Times.&nbsp; The BJP rejected the allegations, with its leaders accusing Banerjee of attempting to create fear among voters and undermining the credibility of the election process, according to The Times of India.&nbsp; With both sides trading accusations of intimidation and electoral malpractice, the West Bengal elections unfolded under intense political confrontation, raising fresh concerns over the fairness and conduct of the polling process in one of India&rsquo;s most closely watched electoral battles.

Phase 2 polls see high turnout amid Mamata Banerjee’s allegations of BJP-backed rigging, central force intimidation, violence and electronic voting machine issues.

West Bengal votes under the shadow of rigging claims in India

NEW DELHI: A key opposition Indian politician has threatened legal action against the election commission after millions of people were struck off electoral rolls, the latest flashpoint over a contentious voter clean-up drive. A sweeping voter registration overhaul -- known as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) -- meant to remove ineligible voters but which critics say is skewed against marginalised and minority communities, kicked off last year in several states and territories. Many of these regions voted Thursday to elect local governments, with two other states slated to go to polls later this month. That includes West Bengal, a state with roughly 100 million people led by Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress party, where it has run into furious opposition. West Bengal is also a crucial election battleground, which Prime Minister Narendara Modi&#39;s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has never governed. - Move to court - Banerjee, the state&#39;s chief minister, accused India&#39;s Election Commission of &quot;working at the behest of the BJP&quot; to strike off her supporters from the state&#39;s electoral rolls. &quot;We will move court again to resist the exclusion of names,&quot; she told her supporters at an election rally on Wednesday. A previous challenge by Banerjee, one of Modi&#39;s most formidable opponents, is pending in the Supreme Court. Members of Modi&#39;s BJP have long claimed that large numbers of undocumented Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh have fraudulently entered India&#39;s electoral rolls. West Bengal shares a 2,217 kilometre (1,378 mile) long border with Bangladesh. The Election Commission, in its defence of the SIR, has said it is in part to avoid &quot;foreign illegal immigrants&quot; from voting. The SIR drive in West Bengal was carried out in two phases. In the first, around 6.3 million names were deleted, with officials citing routine reasons such as deaths or voters having moved out of the state. A second, more controversial phase, flagged another six million voters for &quot;adjudication&quot;, a category introduced for the first time in West Bengal, which relied on software to identify anomalies such as spelling mismatches. Muslims, who make up a quarter of the state&#39;s population, were disproportionately flagged for this extra scrutiny, according to at least two independent analyses of Election Commission data. Of those flagged, about 2.7 million were finally found to be ineligible to vote, the Election Commission&#39;s data released earlier this week, raising the total number of exclusions to over nine million -- or roughly 12 percent of the electorate. The 2.7 million left out after the second phase can still appeal their exclusion. But with the tribunals set up to adjudicate such matters still not fully operational, a decision is unlikely before voting begins on April 23.

Mamata Banerjee has threatened fresh legal action against India’s Election Commission over a voter roll purge in West Bengal that excluded over nine million people, with critics alleging minority targeting and warning many appeals may remain unresolved before April 23 voting.

Articles tagged with "Mamata Banerjee"

India: Banerjee refuses to resign after accusing BJP of rigging elections

West Bengal votes under the shadow of rigging claims in India

India election roll overhaul sparks anger as key states vote