With just four days remaining for the scrutiny of voter identity documents in West Bengal, more than 114,000 documents submitted during the hearing are yet to be uploaded for final examination. The Chief Electoral Officer’s office revealed that as of Tuesday night, 114,772 documents were pending upload. Two tasks are currently ongoing simultaneously: scrutinizing the already uploaded documents and uploading those submitted during the last phase of the hearing sessions that ended on February 14.
Concerns have emerged about the potential extension of the scrutiny deadline, set for February 21, due to the backlog of documents. Districts with the highest number of pending voter documents include Cooch Behar, North Dinajpur, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, and Kolkata (Uttar). An official from the CEO’s office mentioned that had the uploading been completed along with the hearing sessions, officers could have focused solely on document scrutiny without the need for a deadline extension.
As the scrutiny progresses, the number of voters found ineligible due to fake or unlisted identity documents is rising. On Tuesday, approximately 35,000 such voters were identified. The final voters’ list for West Bengal is scheduled for publication on February 28, with the Election Commission of India planning a two-day visit starting March 1 to assess the post-Special Summary Revision scenario. Subsequently, the ECI will announce the polling dates for the state’s Assembly election.
