India, Sept. 27 -- BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday mounted a strong defence of the Election Commission amid the political row over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, blaming former chief minister Mamata Banerjee for the deletion of 27 lakh names and asserting that neither the BJP nor the poll panel could be held responsible.

Addressing a press conference here, Adhikari also cited the September 26 meeting of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi to argue that SIR-related decisions were taken collectively and not unilaterally by the CEC.

Showing a photograph released by the Election Commission of the three commissioners sitting t...