Bengal SIR: Release of supplementary voter list pushed to Monday
Kolkata: The publication of the supplementary voter list in West Bengal, which was earlier expected on Friday or Saturday, is now likely to be released on Monday, sources in the Election Commission of India said.
According to officials, preparations are underway to display the updated electoral roll across nearly 80,000 polling booths in the state once the list is finalised.
The delay in publishing the list has drawn political attention, with Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee alleging that the process is being deliberately slowed down, potentially inconveniencing voters.
She also expressed her doubts over the disposal of all the 60 lakh cases under adjudication with the current pace of the disposal process.
“I have heard that out of the total adjudicated cases, 10 lakh names have been deleted . A particular community is being targeted for exclusion. The maximum number of deletions of names is from Murshidabad, Malda , South Dinajpur and North Dinajpur,” said Banerjee.
Election Commission sources said that the adjudication process is going on in full swing, and till Thursday, nearly 27 lakh cases were disposed of by over 700 judicial officers engaged in this task.
An official in the Commission said that around 2 lakh cases are being adjudicated daily. “The supplementary list will include the names of voters whose applications are cleared during the ongoing verification process. The voters who will be excluded will also be informed, and reasons for their deletion will be stated,” an EC official said.
If required, the poll body will publish the supplementary voter list in multiple phases before the final deadline linked to the nomination process for the two phases of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, scheduled to be held on April 23 and April 29.
Meanwhile, sources in the Commission said that 19 tribunals are being constituted in different parts of the state as per orders of the apex court under the supervision of the Calcutta High Court across the state.
The electors who feel that their names have been excluded after adjudication without a valid reason may seek redressal in these tribunals.According to the notification, several retired judges have been appointed as appellate authorities for different districts of the state. The arrangement covers almost all districts across both North and South Bengal, including North 24-Parganas, Kolkata, Purba Medinipur, Cooch Behar, Nadia and Howrah.
Two modes have been provided for filing appeals. Electors can submit their applications online through the ECI NET platform or file them physically through the district administration (DM/SDM/SDO offices). The administration will be responsible for uploading such applications to the digital platform.
The Commission further stated that these tribunals will become operational with immediate effect. However, their functioning will cease once all pending appeals in the respective districts are disposed of.
