Kolkata, Jan 16 (IANS) The BJP on Friday said that the vandalism that occurred at the offices of the block development officers (BDOs) in two districts of West Bengal on January 14-15 necessitates decisive action from the Election Commission of India (ECI).

At the same time, the West Bengal unit of the party has claimed that the ECI should ensure that Form-7 applications (deletion of names of voters) are submitted without resistance at the hearing centers on claims and objections on the draft voters’ list, the deadline for which has been extended for five states to January 19 for three sates namely Rajasthan, Goa and West Bengal and two union territories Lakshadweep and Puducherry.

After a hearing centre at Farakka in the minority-dominated Murshidabad district was vandalised on Wednesday, a similar attack was repeated in a hearing centre at Chakulia in North Dinajpur district on Thursday. In both cases, the ruling Trinamool Congress leaders and their followers were accused of the rampage.

Referring to the incidents at Farakka and Chakulia, BJP’s Information Technology Cell Chief and the party’s central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, has claimed in a statement that if the ECI still failed to acknowledge the rampant lawlessness under the ruling Trinamool, it would be too late.

“The Commission must act decisively to raise the bar of deterrence. These are not freak incidents, but planned acts of destruction in sensitive areas. From Farakka to Dinajpur, the pattern is unmistakably clear,” Malviya claimed

BJP’s state president and the party’s Rajya Sabha member, Samik Bhattacharya, has questioned the justification of SIR unless the genuine Form-7 applications are submitted during the hearing session for deletion of names of deceased, shifted, duplicate, and untraceable voters from the final voters’ list to be published on February 14.

“The ruling Trinamool Congress aims to retain the names of deceased, shifted, duplicate, and untraceable voters in the final voters’ list, so that false voting could be done in their names on the polling day. The Commission should ensure smooth submission of Form-7 applications. If necessary, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar should himself come to West Bengal to review the situation,” said Bhattacharya.

–IANS

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