BJP MLA and leader of opposition in the West Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday welcomed the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar where assembly polls are due later this year, and said such an exercise should also be conducted in the Trinamool Congress-ruled state.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued instructions to carry out the exercise in Bihar to weed out ineligible names and ensure that all eligible citizens are included in the electoral roll, allowing them to exercise their franchise in the polls.
"This is a good step, and there will be transparency. Those illegal immigrants who have got themselves enrolled in the electoral rolls in the country should be identified," he said.
"Those who have got this enrolment done through fake Aadhaar cards and identification cards should have their names struck off from the voter lists," the BJP leader said.
The Election Commission said on Friday that nearly 87 percent of the 7.96 crore voters in Bihar have been provided with semi-filled enumeration forms for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
Adhikari had, on earlier occasions, alleged that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh had got themselves enrolled on the voter list in Bengal and demanded their identification and striking off their names from the electoral rolls.
"In Bengal, the Special Intensive Revision should be conducted. Rohingyas, who have obtained fake Aadhaar cards and birth certificates through illegal means, should be detected," he said.
Adhikari said that only India's citizens should have their names in the electoral rolls of the country.
The assembly elections in West Bengal are due next year.
The INDIA bloc parties have been vocal in their opposition to the exercise of the Special Intensive Revision, which has already started in Bihar and is to be carried out in five more states -- Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal -- that are going to polls next year.
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