India, April 10 -- The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday lodged a strong protest with the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the alleged "large-scale deletion" of voters from the electoral rolls in West Bengal following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), CPI(M) General Secretary MA Baby termed the exercise a "systematic mass disenfranchisement." He claimed that over 90 lakh voters - roughly 12 per cent of the State's electorate - have been excluded from the rolls.

"Reports indicate that a significant number were placed under an impervious category of 'under adjudication,' only to find that redressal mechanisms were inaccessible and non-operational," Baby stated. ...