Bengal SIR: EC finds 97 voters marked ‘dead’ during roll revision ‘alive’
Kolkata: The Election Commission has identified around 97 voters across West Bengal who were marked as deceased during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls but are, in fact, alive.
Of these 97 electors, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has identified 70, while the BJP has flagged four. The remaining cases were detected during various phases of the SIR exercise, sources in the poll body said.
According to Election Commission sources, Metiabruz Assembly Constituency in South 24-Parganas district alone accounts for 23 voters who were wrongly marked as ‘dead’. Kakdwip Constituency in the same district has one such case. All 24 voters have been found to be alive.
Cooch Behar district has a total of 16 voters listed as deceased, with seven cases reported from Coochbehar South Assembly constituency and five from Mathabhanga. In East Burdwan, nine voters were marked dead, while Howrah and Hooghly districts have seven such cases each.
The number stands at five each in Kolkata South and East Midnapore, four in West Burdwan, and three in Birbhum. Districts including West Midnapore, Kolkata North, Murshidabad, Darjeeling and Alipurduar have reported two such cases each, while Bankura and Jalpaiguri have one case each.
However, all these voters are alive. The Trinamool Congress has raised questions over the manner in which the SIR exercise is being carried out in the state. Party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has paraded several such voters at political meetings. The ruling party, including its chairperson, Mamata Banerjee, has alleged that the SIR process is resulting in the disenfranchisement of genuine electors.
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer in West Bengal is currently examining documents submitted by the voters wrongly marked as deceased and is taking steps to rectify the errors. “We will ensure that no genuine elector is left out of the electoral rolls,” an Election Commission official said.
