New Delhi: All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday told the Supreme Court of India that the outcome of several seats in the recent West Bengal Assembly elections may have been impacted by votes deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
TMC MP and advocate Kalyan Banerjee made the submission before a bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi while the court was hearing petitions challenging the SIR exercise in Bengal.
According to Banerjee, in 31 Assembly seats the margin of victory between the BJP and TMC was lower than the number of votes deleted during the revision process.
Supreme Court allows filing of fresh petitions
The bench observed that former chief minister Mamata Banerjee and other leaders could file fresh petitions challenging the SIR process carried out in the state.
Earlier during the hearing, Kalyan Banerjee claimed that in one constituency, the TMC candidate lost by only 862 votes while more than 5,000 voters had allegedly been removed from the electoral rolls there.
He further stated that the overall vote difference between the BJP and TMC in the state was around 32 lakh votes and that 35 appeals against voter deletions were still pending.
Election Commission opposes TMC arguments
The Election Commission of India opposed the submissions and argued that the proper legal remedy in such cases was to approach the Election Commission through the prescribed process.
The Commission maintained that accountability in disputes related to the SIR exercise could be determined only through that mechanism.
Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, appearing for TMC, told the court that at the current pace, appellate tribunals may take nearly four years to dispose of all pending appeals.
BJP secured 207 seats in Bengal elections
In the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party won 207 out of 294 seats, while TMC secured 80 seats.
More than 90% voting was recorded in the elections.
According to election figures, the BJP received 2,92,24,804 votes, while TMC secured 2,60,13,377 votes — giving the BJP a lead of 32,11,427 votes statewide.
The TMC argued that nearly 91 lakh votes were deleted during the SIR exercise, averaging around 30,000 deleted voters per constituency. Of the 293 seats contested, 176 reportedly had victory margins below 30,000 votes.
