Kolkata, March 29 – The judicial process for adjudicating the claims of 40 lakh voters, which constitutes approximately 67 per cent of the total electorate of over 60 lakh, has been completed by Sunday evening, according to an insider from the office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).
Of the 40 lakh cases, the adjudication process for which was completed by Sunday evening, a total of approximately 18 lakh cases have been classified as eligible for exclusion.
This means that nearly 45 per cent of the total cases for which the judicial adjudication process has been completed have been found eligible for exclusion.
However, those who have been found eligible for exclusion during the judicial adjudication process will have the option to approach any of the 19 Appellate Tribunals established for this purpose.
The final voter list in West Bengal, excluding the 60 lakh cases referred for judicial adjudication, was published on February 28.
It was decided that supplementary lists would be released in line with the progress of the adjudication process.
Prior to the issuance of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) notification for West Bengal in November last year, the total number of voters in the state was 766,37,529.
In the draft voter list published in December last year, a total of 58,20,899 names were deleted.
In the final voter list published on February 28, the deletion figure rose to 63,66,952.
It remains to be seen what the final deletion figure will be after the judicial adjudication process is complete.
An insider from the CEO's office said that, based on the current pace of judicial adjudication, it can be said that the process will be completed easily within this week.
Currently, more than 700 judicial officers, including 100 each from neighboring Odisha and Jharkhand, are involved in the adjudication process, and they are working day and night to complete the process as quickly as possible.
The two-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held on April 23 and April 29.
In the first phase, polling will take place for 152 Assembly constituencies, and in the second phase for the remaining 142 Assembly constituencies.
The results of the two-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal will be declared on May 4.