Almost 50 pc of over 100-year-old voters in Bengal electoral list are dead: Initial ECI findings

Kolkata, Oct 12 (IANS) Almost 50 per cent of the voters who have either attained or crossed the age of 100, and whose names still appear in the voters' list of West Bengal, are reportedly dead, according to the initial findings of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

However, the exact number of deceased post-century voters whose names still appear on the state's voters’ list would be known only after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is completed, said an insider from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

According to the latest statistics available with the ECI, the number of post-century voters in the state whose names are on the state's voters’ list is approximately 13,000.

The SIR in West Bengal is expected to start soon, and the ECI has already directed the CEO’s office to complete all necessary preparations for the revision, especially regarding the printing of enumeration forms by October 15.

“During its recent tour to West Bengal to review the SIR preparedness in the state, a central ECI team specially focused on the deletion of names of deceased voters and duplicate voters from the voters’ list. In all probability, the process will start with the deletion of deceased post-century voters,” the CEO’s office insider said.

He explained that, as regards duplicate voters, there are two categories of such voters. The first category involves those who have shifted from one residence to another within the state, but their names remain enrolled with both the old and new addresses.

“In such cases, the name of the voter concerned enrolled with the old residence will be deleted,” the CEO’s office insider explained.

The second category is those who have migrated from West Bengal to other states and, in due course, got their names enrolled as voters in those other states, but their names continue to exist in the list of West Bengal.

The SIR will be happening in the state amid hostile opposition from the ruling Trinamool Congress against it. Last week, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she would not tolerate the names of voters from a particular religion being deleted from the list after SIR.

The very next day, Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member Partha Bhowmik said that West Bengal will be on the boil if the name of a single genuine voter was deleted following the SIR.

On Saturday, Trinamool Congress’ state general secretary in West Bengal, Kunal Ghosh, threatened to launch a protest with a lakh people in Delhi if the name of a single legal voter is deleted from the West Bengal voter list.

--IANS

src/dpb