Bengal CEO plans 100 hearings daily per Assembly seat

Kolkata: The office of the Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has decided to summon at least 100 voters per Assembly Constituency each day for hearings to scale up voter verification ahead of the publication of the final electoral rolls.

The hearings will be conducted by AEROs appointed by the Election Commission to scrutinise voter data. Ten AEROs have been deployed in each Assembly Constituency for the exercise. With 294 Assembly seats in the state, a total of 2,940 AEROs are currently in place.

The Commission has also initiated the process of engaging an additional 1,000 to 1,500 AEROs, depending on the volume of cases and the pace of verification. During preliminary scrutiny, the Commission detected discrepancies in a large number of enumeration forms. Nearly 30 lakh voters were found to have submitted enumeration forms despite having no linkage with the 2002 electoral rolls, the last time a SIR was conducted in the state. All voters in this category will be mandatorily called for hearings.

In addition, the Commission has flagged the details of 1,67,45,911 voters as suspicious. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will first conduct door-to-door verification of these electors. Those whose credentials fail to satisfy the BLOs will be referred back to the Commission and summoned for hearings.

The draft electoral roll for West Bengal is scheduled to be published on December 16. Following its release, voters will be allowed to raise objections or seek corrections. Notices will then be issued, and voters will be called individually for hearings. After examining documents and supporting evidence, the Commission will publish the final electoral roll on February 14, 2026. The Commission has classified voters into three categories — self-mapping, progeny mapping and non-mapping.

Around 30 lakh voters fall under the non-mapping category, where neither their names nor those of their relatives appear in the 2002 rolls. All such voters will be required to appear for hearings for verification of documents and credentials.

Voters whose names featured in the 2002 electoral rolls have been placed in the self-mapping category, which comprises 2,93,69,188 electors.

Those whose names did not appear in the 2002 list but whose parents’ or relatives’ names were included have been categorised under progeny mapping, accounting

for 3,84,55,939 voters.