Hindu refugees from Bangladesh likely to be worst hit by Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal, says CPI(M) leader

Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Kanti Ganguly has said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is likely to affect Hindu refugees from Bangladesh living in West Bengal the most.

Ganguly, a former state minister who has been summoned for a document verification hearing today (2 January), said he supports the revision process but criticised the short timeframe allotted for it, reports The Hindu.

"I am in favour of the SIR. But this is a huge and quite challenging task. To make it more foolproof and precise, more time should have been allocated. India is a huge nation with a mammoth population, so for better revision of the electoral rolls, more time should have been given," he told PTI.

The 82-year-old leader served as minister of the Sundarbans Development Department from 2001 to 2011 and later held the Sports and Youth Welfare portfolio between 2009 and 2011.

"I am from the Sundarbans region. There is a large Hindu population that has come from Bangladesh and is now living here. In this exercise, they would be the most affected," he claimed.

Ganguly said the Election Commission should have framed clear and detailed guidelines to prevent confusion among voters and the spread of misinformation.

"The EC should have made better preparations and set up elaborate guidelines for the SIR. This could have prevented the various wrong speculations among common voters about the process," he said.

According to him, political parties with strong organisational networks are likely to gain from the revision process.

"The SIR will benefit political parties with strong organisational structures. That will make the difference in the forthcoming assembly elections. But I do not think the Communists will benefit from it. At the moment, the common people are yet to place their trust in them," he said.

"Until the Communists regain the confidence of the people, they will not perform well in elections. The SIR will not make much difference for them," he added.

Commenting on opposition protests against the exercise, Ganguly said dissent is part of democracy but must be grounded in concrete issues.

"Protest should not be for the sake of protesting. The opposition parties objecting to the SIR should highlight the problems common voters are facing due to the revision. They must clearly state why they are protesting," he said.

He also stressed that the Election Commission should remain impartial and not yield to political pressure while carrying out the process accurately.

Ganguly said he was surprised to receive a notice for verification, noting that his name appeared in the electoral rolls as far back as 2002, when he was a minister.

He added that he would attend the hearing on Friday and submit all necessary documents to the Election Commission of India.