Mapping pending for 76K voters in Jalpaiguri ahead of draft electoral roll

Jalpaiguri: The Jalpaiguri District Election Office has reported that mapping could not be completed for nearly 76,000 voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, as these voters failed to submit required details in the enumeration forms.

After the draft electoral roll is published on December 16, notices will be issued to all such voters, who will then be called for hearings to verify their credentials. The largest share—around 32,400 voters—belongs to the Dabgram-Phulbari Assembly Constituency.

Alongside this, the names of nearly 66,000 deceased voters have been removed from the list. Booth-level officers (BLOs) were also unable to trace about 29,000 voters, while another 34,000 voters have permanently relocated from the district.

As of Thursday, before publication of the draft roll, Jalpaiguri district has an estimated 19.14 lakh voters. On Thursday evening, Special Observer Pankaj Kumar Yadav, appointed by the Election Commission, held a meeting with District Magistrate Shama Parveen and senior officials at the DM’s office to review the SIR progress. Later, an all-party meeting was convened, where the District Election Office shared constituency-wise details. Among the seven Assembly constituencies, Dabgram-Phulbari has emerged as the most problematic zone, with more than 19,000 untraceable voters. The Mal Assembly Constituency recorded the highest number of deceased voters at 12,600, followed by 12,266 in Dabgram-Phulbari.

Although the Special Roll Observer reviewed the full report with the DM, Additional District Magistrate Dhiman Barui and Assembly-level officials, he declined to comment to the media. The District Magistrate later said: “The Special Roll Observer conducted administrative meetings and also discussed issues with political party representatives.”

Mapping could not be completed for about 6,000 voters each in Dhupguri and Maynaguri, around 7,800 in Jalpaiguri Sadar, 7,400 in Rajganj, 9,000 in Malbazar, and 7,400 in Nagrakata.

All such voters will be notified and called for hearings. During the all-party meeting, political representatives expressed concern over the large number of voters requiring hearings.TMC representative Anjan Das said: “We requested the Special Roll Observer to extend the hearing hours, as daily wage earners and tea garden workers cannot attend during regular office timings.”

CPI(M) representative Pradip Dev added: “We have also proposed setting up medical camps with doctors at the hearing centres.”