The most critical phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls is set to begin with the commencement of the hearing process, which will continue from the publication of the draft voter list on Tuesday until January 15. Ahead of the hearings, data released by the Election Commission (EC) has revealed a large number of “logical discrepancies” in enumeration forms across the state. Significantly, South 24 Parganas district — represented in the Lok Sabha by Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee, the Chief Minister’s nephew and the ruling Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) second-in-command — has emerged at the top in four out of the seven categories of such discrepancies identified by the Commission.
In SIR terminology, logical discrepancies refer to inconsistencies in voter data that appear improbable based on age, family relationships, or personal details, said an officer of the EC. One such category involves cases where a single individual has been shown as the father or mother of six or more children. While Murshidabad recorded the highest number of such cases at 4,07,065, South 24 Parganas featured prominently across several other discrepancy categories. The lowest number in this category was reported from Jhargram, with 7,727 forms.
South 24 Parganas leads the state in the category of mismatch in the father’s name, with as many as 9,33,872 forms flagged. In contrast, Kalimpong district recorded the lowest number of such cases at 44,020.
The district also tops two major age-related discrepancy categories. In cases where the age difference between parent and child is 15 years or less, South 24 Parganas accounted for 1,39,702 forms, while Kalimpong again reported the lowest figure at 10,569. Similarly, in cases where the age gap between parent and child is 50 years or more, South 24 Parganas recorded 1,09,567 forms, compared to just 3,500 in Kalimpong.
Gender mismatch is another category dominated by South 24 Parganas, which reported 1,60,316 such forms. Kalimpong, one of the smallest districts in the state, reported only 5,865 cases.
In the remaining categories, North 24 Parganas emerged at the top. It recorded the highest number of cases where the age difference between voters and their grandparents was less than 40 years, with 41,099 forms, closely followed by South 24 Parganas at 40,408. Jhargram reported the lowest number here, with 2,335 cases. North 24 Parganas also led in applications for first-time voter registration by individuals aged 45 years or above, with 2,59,881 such forms, while Kalimpong again recorded the fewest at 11,947.
According to the Commission, around 1.635 crore forms were initially found to contain one or more logical inconsistencies, with several forms featuring discrepancies across multiple categories. After preliminary screening, officials estimate the number of such forms to be about 1.36 crore. The Commission has clarified that this figure is expected to reduce substantially after detailed verification during the ongoing hearing process.
With South 24 Parganas emerging as the district with the highest concentration of discrepancies in multiple categories, the hearings over the coming weeks are expected to be particularly significant in determining the accuracy and finalisation of the electoral rolls in the district.
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