The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday has directed the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal to immediately download and distribute all notices related to so-called “logical discrepancies” in the state’s electoral rolls, mandating that they reach the concerned voters within the next four to five days. The Commission has issued a stern warning that any laxity in the process will not be tolerated.
The directive comes amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in the state. Initially, the ECI had flagged around 1.36 crore voters for logical discrepancies. However, revised data has brought the figure down to approximately 95 lakh voters, sources on the Commission said.
Following the Commission’s instructions, the CEO’s office issued a communication to District Election Officers (DEOs) across all districts, instructing them to submit detailed, assembly constituency-wise reports on the number of discrepancy notices served. These reports are to be filed daily starting Tuesday, placing the entire exercise under close and continuous scrutiny.
According to the Election Commission, “logical discrepancies” refer to informational anomalies in voter records rather than questions of citizenship. These include mismatches in voters’ names, instances where the age difference between a voter and their father is less than 15 years or more than 50 years, inconsistencies in age differences with a grandfather, and cases of gender mismatch in official records.
Political circles have linked the intensified scrutiny to the possibility of an imminent announcement of election dates following the completion of the SIR process. In this context, the Election Commission summoned West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal to Delhi for discussions.
Sources within the Commission said that after a meeting with state officials on Monday, instructions were issued to summon nearly 1 crore voters identified with such logical discrepancies for hearings. The ECI has stressed that all notices must be delivered within the stipulated timeframe and that strict monitoring mechanisms will be enforced to ensure compliance at every level.
The exercise has also triggered political reactions. Trinamool Congress (TMC) All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee recently questioned the Election Commission’s decision to publish the draft voter list and the list of data inconsistencies on the same day. He demanded that the complete list of logical discrepancies be made public.
However, instead of releasing the full list, the Election Commission is now reportedly preparing to summon nearly 1 crore voters for hearings, a move that is expected to remain at the centre of political debate in West Bengal in the days ahead.
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