The Election Commission of India is set to publish two separate lists of “unmapped” and “logical discrepancy” cases identified during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal. Initially, the Supreme Court had directed the Commission to release only the list of “logical discrepancy” cases following a petition by Trinamool Congress. However, the ECI later announced its decision to publish both lists as ordered by the apex court.
There were uncertainties about meeting the deadline to release the lists by midnight on Saturday, as the approved lists had not reached the Chief Electoral Officer’s office in West Bengal by Friday night. However, insiders at the CEO’s office anticipate that the lists will arrive from the ECI’s headquarters on Saturday and will be uploaded to the official website thereafter.
The lists will also be displayed in hard copy at various block offices, panchayat offices for village panchayats, and ward offices for municipalities and municipal corporations. “Unmapped” voters are those who could not establish any linkage with the 2002 voters’ list, while “logical discrepancy” cases involve strange family-tree data found during “progeny mapping.”
In West Bengal, there are 31,68,426 “unmapped” voters and 94,49,132 cases of “logical discrepancies.” Of the unmapped voters summoned for hearings on claims and objections, over 3,00,000 did not attend by Friday evening. If they continue to be absent, their names will be deleted from the final voters’ list.
During the enumeration phase, over 58 lakh voters were identified as deceased, shifted, or duplicate voters, leading to their removal from the draft voters list issued on December 16 last year. The deadline for hearing sessions is February 7, with the final voters’ list scheduled for publication on February 14, although extensions are possible.
Following the final voters’ list publication, the Commission is expected to announce the polling dates for the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal.
