After completing the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in West Bengal, the Election Commission has flagged an alarming 58 lakh uncollected enumeration forms, indicating that these names will be excluded from this year’s draft electoral roll.
Thursday marked the final day for submitting the enumeration forms. BLOs were permitted to upload pending data till midnight
The Commission recorded 58,08,232 uncollectible forms. These include:
· 24,18,699 deceased voters
· 12,01,462 voters not found
· 19,93,087 transferred voters
· 1,37,475 duplicate entries
· 57,509 categorised as ‘others’
The draft voter list will be released on December 16. Objections and claims regarding the list can be filed till January 15. EROs will conduct inquiries, resolve disputes, issue notices, and hold hearings where necessary from December 16 to February 7.
Meanwhile, Thursday’s proceedings saw dramatic scenes in South 24 Parganas. The Commission’s special observer, C. Murugan, faced protests during his visit to several assembly constituencies. For days, the opposition has accused the Commission of retaining names of deceased voters in the rolls, and even claimed that no voter listed in 2002 had died in certain booths— raising fresh questions about voter list accuracy.
As Murugan moved through the Falta region in South 24 Parganas, Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers and supporters launched a protest, with several women approaching Commission members wielding brooms.
Responding to the incident, State CEO Manoj Agarwal said that the observers’ security was not compromised. He added that any formal complaint would be examined. On the Falta episode specifically, Agarwal noted that adequate security arrangements were in place, and confirmed that Murugan later returned safely to the CEO’s office.
Also read: Kolkata police recover ₹43.29 lakh lost in online fraud
Follow us
