'Elections cannot be conducted in West Bengal without central forces,' says BJP's Dilip Ghosh

BJP leader Dilip Ghosh (Courtesy: PTI file photo)

On the issue of deployment of central forces in West Bengal, BJP leader Dilip Ghosh on Saturday said that elections cannot be conducted without central forces, citing tensions and incidents of violence during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state.

He said the SIR was conducted in the state amid tensions and violence, and the election is a difficult task that cannot be conducted without central forces.

"The SIR was conducted in the state amid tensions and violence. Election is a difficult task and cannot be conducted without central forces. People demanding central forces during the election", he told ANI.

Speaking on the BJP's Parivartan Yatra, he alleged that the state government is not granting permission for the yatra but asserted that the party has the court's approval to proceed.

"State government is not giving permission for yatra, but we have the court's permission and will go ahead with it. People want change in this upcoming election", he said.

Earlier this week, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed concern over the ongoing SIR procedure, suggesting that around 1.20 crore names are projected to get deleted from the electoral roll. The CM called it a question of democratic rights, adding that the issue transcends party lines and religious identities.

Earlier on Tuesday, the West Bengal government welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to permit the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to deploy additional civil judges with three years of experience and, if required, seek assistance from the Chief Justices of Jharkhand and Odisha for verifying objections under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter rolls in the state.

The directions were issued by a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant after the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court flagged a shortage of officers to verify over 50 lakh objections under the 'Logical Discrepancy' category within the existing timeframe.

The High Court had noted that even 250 judicial officers would require approximately 80 days to complete the verification.