KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the names of around 1.20 crore voters are likely to be deleted from the final list of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the state.
While addressing in the inaugural and laying foundation stone of several state government projects at Bhowanipore, her assembly constituency in south Kolkata, the CM, expressing deep concern with the ongoing SIR exercise, said on Wednesday, three days ahead of the publication of post-SIR electoral list on 28 February, “I assume 1.2 crore voters will be removed from the list.”
She also attended a programme of the Jain community at Bhowanipore. Mamata said, “Initially, it was heard that names of 58 lakh voters would be removed. Then the figure shot up to 80 lakhs. I think around 1.2 crore voters in all will be removed.”
“I care less about whose names, like whether the name belongs to someone from Hindu, Muslim, Jain, or Sikh community, etc., but at the same time it won’t be acceptable if any genuine voter’s name is removed,” Mamata said.
“I am concerned with those people whose names will be deleted from final list. I am offering prayer to God here for what that is legal,” she said.
As per the Supreme Court directives, the Election Commission of India (ECI) will have to release the final post SIR-voters’ list on 28 February. Supplementary lists of voters can also be published after 28 February deadline.
Voting rights of those people whose names will not be there in the final electoral rolls will be put on hold till the supplementary lists are released.
Verification of documents of around 60 lakh electors belonging to the logical discrepancy category is yet to be completed.
Sources in the CEO's office also felt that it might be a herculean task to complete the scrutiny of such a huge number of voters by this deadline.
With directives of the Supreme Court (SC), judicial officers in West Bengal on Monday started verification of documents related to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
According to sources in the Election Commission of India (ECI), around 300 login IDs have been created for the judicial officers posted as District and session judges, Chief Judges, Additional district and Session Judges, Judges of Special CBI Courts, Commercial Courts, Special courts for trial of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs, Exclusive POSCO Courts, Judges posted in Benches of City Civil Court and City session Court, Calcutta for the scrutiny of the SIR documents of voters belonging to the logical discrepancies category in Bengal.
The SC has also proposed that the Calcutta High Court Chief justice to engages judges from Odisha and Jharkhand, respectively, to increase the human resource strength required for the scrutiny process.
On February 20, the apex court issued an “extraordinary” direction to deploy serving and former district judges to assist the poll panel in the controversy-ridden SIR process in the state.
It ordered the deputation of judicial officers for the adjudication of claims and objections of persons placed under the logical discrepancy lists and facing removal of their names from the electoral rolls.
Logical discrepancies in progeny linking with the 2002 voter list include mismatch in parents’ names and cases where the age difference between a voter and the parent is less than 15 years or more than 50 years.
