91 lakh voters deleted in West Bengal

A political flash point is likely to erupt in West Bengal after the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday released the data on electoral rolls in the State. Nearly 91 lakh voters stand deleted from the rolls following the Special Intensive Revision exercise (SIR) in the State.

With the adjudication process concluding late Monday night, officials indicated that the total number of deleted could rise further once pending formalities are completed.  The poll panel is yet to announce the finally altered voter base for the State.

“The revision exercise has been carried out in a phased and transparent manner. District-wise data has now been placed in the public domain to ensure complete accountability,” a senior ECI official said.  Of 60.06 lakh voters under adjudication, data for 59.84 lakh has been published, and the remaining 22,163 cases have been disposed of but are yet to be e-signed, he said.

“Once the pending procedural formalities, including e-signatures, are completed, there may be marginal changes in both deletion and inclusion figures,” the official said.The entire exercise has been undertaken in compliance with established guidelines, he said.

“Any further inclusion at this stage will be subject to legal provisions and directions, if any, from competent authorities,” the official said.

After the adjudication exercise Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas and Malda districts have the highest number of ineligible voters. The three districts house 67 Assembly seats in the 294 seat State legislature. The total number of deleted names from Murshidabad stands at 4.55 lakhs, 3.25 lakhs in North 24 Parganas and 2.39 lakhs in Malda. Murshidabad and Malda are minority-dominated districts. According to data from the chief electoral officer’s office, out of 60,06 lakh cases sent for judicial scrutiny, decisions have been finalised in 59.84 lakh cases so far. Over 27.16 lakh of 60,06 lakh ‘under adjudication’ voters have been deleted during a scrutiny by judicial officers, the ECI data suggests. The process of adding e-signatures by judicial officers remains pending in over 22,000 cases, leaving room for further deletions.

More than 32.68 lakh of those in the ‘under adjudication’ category have been retained and included in the final rolls. The final deletions, since the beginning of the SIR process, were around 90.83 lakh, according to the EC data.

Before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal on November 4 last year, the total number of voters in the state stood at 7.66 crore when the electoral list was frozen on October 27. In the draft voters’ list published in December last year, a total of 58,20,899 names were deleted. In the final voters’ list published on February 28, the deletion figure rose to 63,66,952.

A Trinamool Congress delegation will meet the poll body on Wednesday and raise the issue of people being “disenfranchised” due to the SIR in West Bengal.

Meanwhile, with the publication of the final supplementary list, the electoral roll for the first phase of West Bengal assembly elections has been “frozen” after midnight on Monday in accordance with prescribed norms, he said.

Of the 294 seats in the assembly, 152 seats will go to the polls on April 23 in the first phase, and the remaining 142 seats will vote in the second phase on April 29. The rolls for the second round will be frozen on April 9.

Meanwhile, the poll body may roll out the third and final phase of special intensive revision of voters’ list in the remaining 22 states and Union territories, including Delhi, after the polls to five assemblies this month. The officials said special intensive revision (SIR) could be rolled out after the polls conclude on April 29. Another possibility is to begin the massive exercise after the declaration of results.