Around nine million names removed during the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced, About 2.71 million of those voters taken off the list after review for the controversial “logical discrepancy” category.
India Deletes 9.1 Million Names from West Bengal Voter Rolls
This announcement came just weeks before Bengal holds elections in two phases. The Muslim-majority district of Murshidabad experienced the highest number of deletions in this category. The border district of Nadia, which has many Dalit communities that resettled in India after Partition, recorded the highest percentage of rejections. Here, about three out of every four people flagged for review removed.
“Around six million voters’ claims reviewed by judicial officers after the final roll published on February 28. Of these six million cases, about 45% found ineligible, and their names dropped from the electoral roll,” said a senior ECI official.
Not presence in constituencies voting led to name removals from voter rolls
Those who failed the review and live in the 152 constituencies voting in the first phase on April 23 not able to vote this time because the rolls frozen. For the second phase, there is a slim chance that some reinstated through a tribunal hearing, although these hearings are not yet fully operational.
With roughly 11.6% of its pre-SIR electoral roll now removed, Bengal seen the third-highest number of deletions among the nine states where this controversial process has been completed. Only Gujarat and Chhattisgarh have higher numbers.
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