Kolkata, March 6 A significant backlog in the disposal of "under adjudication" cases in West Bengal's post-SIR electoral rolls has raised concerns about whether a large number of electors would be disenfranchised due to the limited time available for scrutiny before the upcoming assembly elections.
With nearly 54 lakh cases still pending, this speculation gained traction after West Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal said the elections in Bengal would take place "at the right time" following the Election Commission's two-day visit to the state on March 9-10, leading observers to conclude that elections are likely to be announced in mid-March.
The Election Commission, in its post-SIR electoral rolls published on February 28, has already deleted the names of nearly 64 lakh voters in Bengal and, as a unique case in the country, has flagged the names of another 60.06 lakh electors to be kept "under adjudication," with the Election Commission-appointed judicial officers in the state currently screening their voter registration forms for "logical discrepancies" (LD).
This situation, coupled with the nationwide Lok Bhavan reshuffle, which led to the sudden mid-term resignation of Governor CV Ananda Bose on Thursday evening, just days before the scheduled announcement of the assembly elections, has prompted speculation across various quarters about whether the elections could be postponed and held later under President's rule.
The term of the 17th Legislative Assembly in West Bengal, under the current Mamata Banerjee regime, is scheduled to end on May 7.
Election observers say the key to resolving this issue may lie with the Supreme Court, which is likely to hear the ongoing SIR-related cases on March 10, as well as the outcome of the Election Commission's two-day visit, during which it is expected to review poll preparedness and law and order in the state.
Senior officials in the election panel said that around 10 per cent of the adjudication cases have been disposed of by about 500 judicial officers since the final, albeit incomplete, rolls were published, leaving nearly 54 lakh cases yet to be screened.
"Over six lakh LD cases have been resolved as of Thursday. We expect around 200 more judicial officers from Odisha and Jharkhand to arrive by Saturday. After their training, these officers can then be added to the existing team starting Monday," said Subrata Gupta, the Election Commission's special observer for Bengal.
Gupta said that around one lakh cases are currently being resolved per day by the existing officers. With an expected 700 officers handling the exercise next week, nearly 1.5 lakh cases could be processed daily. This would likely take more than a month to complete.
"We expect the Supreme Court to provide necessary directions on this matter, as it is clear that the supplementary rolls for all pending LD cases cannot be completed before mid-March. Whether the polls will be held based on incomplete rolls depends on the apex court and the Election Commission," said a senior poll official.
Election Commission rules state that citizens whose names appear in electoral rolls published before the final day of withdrawal of nominations by candidates for a particular phase are eligible to vote. Once elections are announced, a window of about 10-12 days is available for candidates to withdraw their nominations.
"Let's say the Election Commission announces the elections on March 15 and publishes the notification for the first phase on the following day. We can also assume that the commission selects the eight districts in North Bengal for the first phase of polling. Candidates in those districts will then have a deadline of March 26-28 to withdraw their nominations, and all pending LD cases in those districts must be resolved to allow all eligible voters to cast their votes. Otherwise, there could be voters who may be left out of the voting process," an official explained.
According to data from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal, over 16.5 lakh cases, comprising about 27.5 per cent of the total cases, have been referred for judicial adjudication in four of the eight north Bengal districts of Cooch Behar, Kalimpong, Uttar Dinajpur and Malda alone.
On Thursday, the Left parties held a protest outside the CEO's office in Kolkata over alleged discrepancies in the post-SIR electoral rolls and told CEO Manoj Agarwal that they would not allow elections in the state until all 60 lakh adjudication cases are resolved.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee began a sit-in at Kolkata's Esplanade to protest the alleged arbitrary deletions from the electoral rolls, escalating the TMC's confrontation with the Election Commission.
In the event of the postponement of the elections, which is a common occurrence in West Bengal, observers say the imposition of Article 356 would be inevitable since the term of the current TMC government would expire before the poll process concludes. The transfer of Governor RN Ravi, a former IPS officer, from Tamil Nadu to Bengal would then become critical, they maintain.
"The replacement of Bose, a retired IAS officer, with Ravi, a former intelligence top boss who was also the Deputy National Security Advisor, is no accident. If the President's rule is imposed in Bengal, Ravi will be a much better fit compared to his predecessor," said Biswajit Bhattacharya, a senior journalist.
He, however, expressed doubts on whether any of the statutory authorities, as well as the top court, would consider President’s Rule in the state, unless as a final option.