Kolkata: Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal on Tuesday assured that no legitimate voter’s name will be deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which began in West Bengal along with 11 other states.
Agarwal met representatives of eight recognised political parties in Kolkata to brief them on the SIR process, which will continue for about two and a half months before the publication of the final electoral roll on February 7.
“We have enough time to conduct the SIR, which aims to prepare a foolproof voter list. The table-top enumeration has already been completed. As per our database, Bengal currently has 7.66 crore voters. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit every household with the enumeration form from November 4. They will use a mobile app containing the voter database. The 2002 voter list will be used as the baseline,” Agarwal said.
He added that voter numbers have increased since 2002, with new additions and transfers. “The door-to-door verification will ensure that not a single genuine voter is left out. Each voter will have a unique QR code,” he said.
The draft electoral roll will be published on December 9, followed by a claims and objections period till January 8. Hearings and verifications will be held till January 31. Help desks will be set up in all districts, including for migrant workers.
Referring to reports that an elderly man from Panihati allegedly died by suicide fearing NRC-like consequences, Agarwal clarified: “The SIR is a routine process, not linked to NRC or citizenship verification. People should not be misled by rumours.”
Agarwal said political parties will deploy Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to assist BLOs. “All parties have assured us of their cooperation,” he added.
On security, he said: “The state government is responsible for ensuring BLOs’ safety. The Commission has full faith in the state police and no deployment of central forces is planned.”
Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress and the CPI(M) accused the Election Commission of exceeding its mandate by deciding citizenship status “under the guise of voter list revision.”
TMC leader Aroop Biswas said: “Under the pretext of SIR, one person has taken his life fearing CAA and NRC. The Commission must take responsibility.”
CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty also questioned the list of valid documents, while BJP spokesperson Shishir Bajoria backed the SIR, saying: “There should be no dead voters, no illegal voters, no infiltrators.”