Kolkata, March 1 – As the final list of voters in West Bengal, as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state, was published, it showed that there had been no new voter registrations in as many as 99 Assembly constituencies during the entire SIR exercise, from the beginning of the enumeration phase in December last year until the publication of the final voter list.
The final voter list was published on Saturday afternoon.
During this phase, there were no Form-6 applications (the form for inclusion), according to statistics from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).
This means that in almost 34 per cent of the total 294 Assembly constituencies in the state, there has not been a single new voter registration application.
However, sources in the CEO's office said that, given that there is still some time remaining for Form-6 applications to be submitted, the situation might be different later.
"Applications for inclusion in the electoral roll can be submitted up to the last date for filing nominations for the upcoming Legislative Assembly election. Since the polling dates for the forthcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal have not yet been announced, there is substantial time remaining from the last date of nomination, and therefore, voters seeking Form-6 applications have ample time to submit them," the source said.
It is learnt that out of the 99 Assembly constituencies where there have been no new voter registrations during this period, the highest number is in the Nadia district, which borders Bangladesh, at 14.
The CEO's office said that since the notification for the revision exercise was announced, the Election Commission has been regularly conducting awareness campaigns among voters about the importance of the different forms in the exercise. "However, it seems that some voters have ignored these awareness campaigns, which is evident from the zero voter registration applications in so many constituencies in this phase," the CEO's office insider said.
The final voter list published on Saturday showed that 61,78,245 names have been deleted so far under the SIR process. The number of deletions is expected to increase further, as the identity documents of around 60 lakh voters remain under judicial adjudication by the judicial officers appointed by the commission for that purpose.
Official statistics showed that the maximum number of "under adjudication" cases is concentrated in three districts bordering Bangladesh – Murshidabad, Malda, and North 24 Parganas. Of these, Murshidabad and Malda are minority-dominated districts.