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No dead or untraceable voters found in 2,208 polling booths in West Bengal, ECI expresses concern

KOLKATA: In a startling revelation, the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls could not find any dead, duplicate or untraceable voters in 2,208 polling booths across West Bengal. The Election Commission of India (ECI) came to know about the matter after verifying the enumeration forms that have already been digitised. In the SIR exercise, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) distribute enumeration forms among voters during their door-to-door visits and collect them once they are filled. All enumeration forms from 2,208 booths were filled up and returned, suggesting that there were no dead, duplicate or untraceable voters in these booths. Expressing serious concern over the irregularities, the ECI on Monday sought reports from district magistrates (DMs), who also function as district electoral officers (DEOs), by Tuesday. The national poll panel has decided to keep special watch in these booths in districts of South 24 Parganas, Purulia, Murshidabad, Malda, Nadia, Bankura, Howrah, East Midnapore, Birbhum, North 24 Parganas, Jalpaiguri, Hooghly, South Dinajpur, West Midnapore, North Dinajpur, East Bardhaman, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kolkata North, and West Bardhaman. The Commission sources said, South 24 Parganas district has the highest number, with 760 such booths without any dead, duplicate or untraceable voters. Purulia records the second-highest number at 228 such booths followed by Murshidabad with 226. Nearly 14 lakh SIR forms identified as 'uncollectable' so far in West Bengal The sources said that the Commission has asked DEOs to clarify whether the names of deceased voters still appear on the electoral rolls, as it is difficult to believe that not a single dead voter was reported from any of the 2,208 booths. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday asked officers, including bureaucrats and sub-divisional officers (SDO), not to panic. Dont get panicked with the exercise because I am with you. They (Commission) has appointed a retired IAS office who is disturbing you, she reportedly told senior officials during a virtual conference in connection with development works in the state. The ECI has appointed Subrata Gupta , a retired bureaucrat, as the special roll observer in Bengal to supervise the SIR process in the state. Besides Gupta, the commission has also appointed 12 other serving IAS officers of the Bengal cadre as roll observers in districts across the state. West Bengal SIR: Over 21 lakh dead voters recorded till December 1