RAIPUR: The Maoist-affected Sukma (Konta assembly) in south Chhattisgarh, curiously was the only region in the state to have recorded a decrease in the number of voters in the latest summary of the revised electoral rolls.
After the current publication of the electoral rolls, Sukma located in the southern tip of Chhattisgarh shows a drop in the total eligible voters by 0.38 per cent.
The figure interestingly resulted owing to the administration reaching out to the interior areas as part of its verification process and confirming down the identity of the voters.
"It's actually the record that is getting purified over the period of time when compared to the earlier voters' list. Now we are coming out with solid proof of each and every voter present. It doesn't mean there was any duplication or error in earlier electoral rolls. The existing lists were revisited and authenticity corroborated in an absolutely transparent manner", Sukma district collector Chandan Kumar told the Express, elucidating the reason for the decline.
Sukma, which remains predominantly a tribal district with 85 per cent ST population and the high sex ratio with 1017 females for every 1000 males, recorded a drop of 624 voters.
The collector said that now since the remote gram panchayats are becoming accessible to district authorities during the revision process and getting verified relevant details, the electoral rolls became more refined with solid documentation.
There might be a possibility of some permanently shifted or any unverified entries got deleted during the revision process.
According to the Chhattisgarh chief electoral officer Subrat Sahu, while Bilaspur district recorded the maximum surge in the voters at 5.36 per cent adding 11669 voters compared to the previous figure that stood on December 22 last year, the Dantewada with an increase of 0.13 per cent shows the lowest increase.
Sukma with a literacy rate of 29 per cent and the population of 2.70 lakh apparently witnessed the impact of administration's outreach to the remotest and inaccessible villages.
Chhattisgarh has 11 Lok Sabha seats for which the elections would be conducted in 23727 polling stations. Four seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and one for the Scheduled Caste (SC).