Kolkata, February 28 – The final voter list in West Bengal, prepared as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), was published on Saturday, with a total of 61,78,245 voters being deleted.
This figure is likely to increase further, as the identity documents of approximately 60 lakh voters are currently being reviewed by judicial officers appointed by the Election Commission of India (ECI), following directions from the Supreme Court.
Announcing this at a press conference on Saturday afternoon, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, said that the total number of "approved" voters in the final list stands at 7,04,59,284.
"When the SIR began in November last year, the total number of voters was 7,66,37,529. This number was reduced to 7,08,16,630. Now, in the final voter list, the total number of "approved" voters stands at 7,04,59,284. This means that a total of 61,78,245 voters have already been deleted in this process," Agarwal said.
The CEO added that if anyone has any objection regarding the deletion of a name, the concerned voter may first apply to the respective District Electoral Officer (DEO) and subsequently to the CEO. "The application in this regard will have to be made within the next 14 days, as per the rules," Agarwal said.
Several political parties in West Bengal, especially the ruling Trinamool Congress, have raised questions over alleged procedural flaws in the SIR exercise. On Saturday, while detailing the final voter list, the CEO admitted that there had been some errors during the process.
"However, these mistakes are minor considering the scale of the exercise. Wherever there was a mistake, the ECI has taken action," Agarwal said.
He said that despite the publication of the final voter list, the judicial review of voter documents by ECI-appointed judicial officers will continue. "Currently, a total of 501 judicial officers are engaged in the review process. A supplementary list will be published depending on the progress of the judicial review," the CEO said.
The final voter list published on Saturday comprises three categories – "approved", "under review", and "deleted".
The list can be accessed on the official websites of the ECI and the CEO, West Bengal. It can also be verified offline by contacting the booth-level officer (BLO) or by visiting the respective polling station, where hard copies of the list have been displayed.
