Adjudication of 20L voters done; EC to soon publish supplementary list

Kolkata: Adjudication of nearly 20 lakh out of 60 lakh electors identified during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in West Bengal has been completed, with the Election Commission expecting to publish the first supplementary voter list within six to seven days.

State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal said efforts were underway to complete the entire adjudication process before March 30, when nominations for the first phase of Assembly elections will begin.

“The adjudication is happening as per the Supreme Court’s order and, according to the latest directive, the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court is monitoring the process,” Agarwal said. He added that a software system is being developed for secure transfer of supplementary lists, and its blueprint has been submitted to the High Court.

“Once approval is received, the system will be operational within four days and the lists will be transferred through the software. We expect to publish the first supplementary list within seven days,” he said.

According to the CEO, adjudication has already been completed in three to four districts, and judicial officers from those districts are being redeployed to areas with a higher number of cases. Around 705 judges have been engaged in verifying voter documents.

Agarwal declined to disclose how many names have been excluded from the 20 lakh cases adjudicated so far, saying the supplementary list would indicate both inclusions and exclusions, along with reasons.

Earlier, the Election Commission had deleted around 63 lakh names from the electoral roll during the SIR exercise, citing death, change of residence, absence, or duplication.

As directed by the Supreme Court, complaints regarding the electoral roll will be examined by a tribunal comprising a former Chief Justice and other judges. The CEO’s office said the tribunal’s constitution will take time as infrastructure and a uniform Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) are being finalised with the Calcutta High Court.

Commission sources said voters whose names appear in the roll up to the last date of filing nominations will be eligible to vote. However, with the tribunal yet to be constituted, voters excluded after adjudication remain uncertain about the next course of action.

To ensure free and fair elections, Agarwal has directed District Electoral Officers to obtain reports from police stations on arms, ammunition, bombs and potential troublemakers by March 19, after the Model Code of Conduct came into force.

The Commission will deploy two police observers for each district and commissionerate, with additional observers for Kolkata. Around 2,200 to 2,300 companies of central forces are expected for the first phase of polling on April 23. A three-tier surveillance system will be set up at polling stations, with drones used in sensitive areas if required.