EC directs strict voter roll rectification

Kolkata: In the wake of some recent incidents where members of banned militant groups have been arrested from different parts of Bengal and other states, the Election Commission (EC) has directed various district administrations to completely abide by commission’s guideline while cleaning up of voter registration rolls. Rectification of the voter list was still going on.

The Special Task Force of Assam and West Bengal arrested two persons from Murshidabad. The police later said that the two have links with banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and a “sleeper cell” was on a “recruitment drive” in West Bengal. One of the accused arrested in this connection had in his possession two voter cards each with two separate addresses —one under Kandi and other Hariharpara Assembly Constituency.

The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in the state has recently sought a report from the district magistarte of Murshidabad on the incident. The commission also alerted various district administrations to follow the guidelines while carrying out a rectification of voter lists. If the district administrations have any doubt about any specific person while issuing a new voter card, the officials will have to perform a detailed verification.

The EC had recently published the integrated draft electoral roll, showing there were 7.4 crore voters in Bengal, of which 3.7 crore were males and 3.6 crore females. This excluded the six assemblies where bypolls were held last month.