Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], August 8 (ANI): Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary and party's leader in the Lok Sabha Abhishek Banerjee on Friday backed senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's claim of voter list manipulation in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, alleging that if the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is being carried out due to irregularities in the voter list, then the government is 'illegal' as it was 'elected through illegal votes.'

Speaking to reporters in Kolkata, Banerjee accused the BJP of being 'entangled in the same tactics' it had tried to use against the Opposition and warned that they would face a 'strong reply' in the upcoming polls.

'The issue of fake voters is before everyone. In some cases, there are 5 voters with the same name. One person has voted more than twice in Varanasi as well as Karnataka. Those who talk about SIR, in conducting SIR, have exposed the person on whose behest he was working. If they have been elected to power through illegal votes, the Govt is illegal too. They are entangled in the same tactics that were attempted to be used against the Opposition. It has been exposed. People will not forgive them. In the upcoming elections, they will receive a strong reply. They should be prepared for it,' he said.

Banerjee alleged that the BJP and the Election Commission were working in collusion to exclude poor voters from electoral rolls.

'Rahul Gandhi has briefed the media about the vote theft. The way in which BJP wants to carry out SIR, the names of the poor people will be excluded first. In Bihar, the names of 65 lakh voters have been removed. We have told Congress that in Karnataka, Mahadevapura Assembly segment, they should take strict action against the Booth Officers (BLOs), and along with it there should be protest against then Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar. In many seats in West Bengal, the BJP won by a margin of less than 15 to 20 thousand votes. In such cases nearly 2500 votes can be manipulated,' he said.

The TMC leader also said that an Opposition delegation would meet the Election Commissioner on August 11 to press for a discussion on the SIR exercise in Parliament.

'We want the House to function. We have requested the Speaker that if there is nothing to hide, then why are they not allowing discussion on SIR? When Bengali is called a Bangladeshi language and insulting it, and then causing atrocities on Bengalis in BJP-ruled states we want a discussion on it. An exercise like SIR which takes 2 years how can that be done in a month? Last time SIR was done in 2002 and list was announced in 2004. If they say that there is manipulation in voter list then the government was formed in 2024, then that government is also illegal. If voter's rights are snatched from anyone we will do gherao in EC office,' he said.

Earlier on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi said 1,00,250 'fake votes' were created in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment in the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka to ensure a win for the BJP.

Taking the reporters through a detailed presentation of the 'fraud' at the Congress headquarters in Delhi, the LoP alleged that 'collusion' had happened between the Election Commission of India and the BJP, which resulted in Prime Minister Narendra Modi securing his third term.

'Narendra Modi became Prime Minister with just a margin of 25 seats...Election Commission is helping BJP destroy the electoral system in India...The Election Commission is not giving us the data because of what we did in Mahadevpur (Karnataka Assembly constituency); if we do it in other Lok Sabha seats, then the truth about our democracy will come out. This is the evidence, criminal evidence (pointing to the physical voter list),' Rahul Gandhi said. (ANI)