Bengal SIR: EC’s 2nd supplementary voter list reveals deletion of about 14L electors; 3rd supplementary list published on Saturday night

Kolkata: The second supplementary voter list, published by the Election Commission on Friday night, has revealed that nearly 44 per cent of the total names—around 14 lakh—have been removed from the voter list.

Meanwhile, the third supplementary list was published at around 10 pm on Saturday; however, there was not much clarity about the numbers at the time of going to print. According to officials in the CEO’s office, from now on, supplementary lists will be published at regular intervals.

In the two supplementary lists released earlier, last Monday and Friday, names of 10 lakh and 21 lakh voters respectively have been disposed of by the 700-odd judicial officers involved in the scrutiny of 60 lakh names that were placed ‘under adjudication’.

Moreover, as many as 183 names out of 186 at Chandpara Gram Panchayat under Bongan Dakshin Assembly Constituency have been deleted in the second supplementary list. The majority of these voters belong to the Matua community.

On February 28, the apex poll body had released the final voter list, where 63.66 lakh voters’ names were deleted. Now with the addition of another 14 lakh, the total number has gone upto 77 lakh.

Commission sources stated that with the list of 31 lakh names already published, another 29 lakh names still remain. Hence, projections suggest that this figure could eventually touch 90 lakh.

The state CEO had stated on Friday that 37 lakh cases had been disposed of. However, lists are being published on the basis of names e-signed by the judicial officers.

In a parallel development, to ensure fair polls, the state CEO office on Saturday announced a series of stringent measures regarding webcasting and the security of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for the upcoming Assembly elections. State CEO Manoj Agarwal stated that strict surveillance would be maintained not only inside the polling booths but also outside them.

“Even in the case of a voter of a particular booth being prevented from reaching the concerned booth for casting his/ her franchise will be treated as an attempt of ‘booth capture’ and if deemed necessary, repoll may be ordered in that particular booth,” said special roll observer Subrata Gupta.

Previously, a single CCTV camera was installed inside each polling booth. The CEO stated that this time, cameras would be deployed in both locations—inside and outside the booths. To ensure a comprehensive “360-degree” view where necessary, two cameras will be installed in many booths, particularly the sensitive ones. The objective this time is to bring 100 per cent of the polling booths under the coverage of webcasting.

“Earlier repoll was an exception, but the ECI has made it clear that this time any doubt will lead to repoll,” said Agarwal.

The entire electoral process will be monitored from three distinct levels — a local control room will be established within the Returning Officer’s chamber, a surveillance center will be set up at the office of the District Electoral Officer (DEO), and the central control room will be established at the CEO’s office itself.

The control room at the CEO’s office has been equipped with 660 TV screens. Each large screen will simultaneously display live feeds from 12 different polling booths.

A team comprising 2,352 Micro Observers and 965 Assistant Observers will be responsible for overseeing this surveillance operation. Even the vehicles belonging to Flying Squads and Quick Response Teams (QRT) are being equipped with cameras and GPS tracking devices. The CEO asserted that in the interest of maintaining transparency, the entire election process is being brought under comprehensive surveillance through the deployment of 2 lakh CCTV cameras

With AI-enabled CC cameras, an automated alert will be transmitted to the control room if more than four individuals from outside enter the polling booth. A similar alert will be triggered if more than one person approaches the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).

Meanwhile, according to sources, former Calcutta High Court Justice Sahidullah Munshi and his wife and son have been included in the electoral rolls of West Bengal after they were initially excluded from the list during the ongoing SIR exercise. A second supplementary list published by the poll body on Friday had the names of the judge and his family. The names of two Trinamool Congress nominees, Shashi Panja, who is contesting from the Shyampukur Assembly seat in North Kolkata and Kajol Sheikh, who is contesting from the Hasan Assembly seat in Birbhum, have figured in the second supplementary list. But nine TMC candidates are still ‘under adjudication’. However, the fate of voters whose names were deleted after judicial scrutiny remains uncertain, as there is no clarity yet on when the tribunals—where aggrieved voters can seek redress—will begin functioning. While 19 tribunals have been constituted, each presided over by former judges, the Election Commission has yet to finalise their actual physical locations.

The Commission, along with judicial officers, inspected three potential sites: the Judicial Academy in Newtown, the HIDCO office, and the Salt Lake Stadium. However, none of these locations met with their approval. A Central government office located in Joka has emerged as a preliminary preference among the judicial officers. But a final decision regarding this has not yet been taken either.