The Chief Electoral Officer’s office in West Bengal is considering extending the deadline beyond February 21 for scrutinizing identity documents submitted during the draft voters list hearings. The extension is being contemplated due to a significant number of “fake” and “unlisted” documents uploaded as identity proofs, posing a challenge in filtering them out. The ongoing scrutiny involves checking already uploaded documents and processing those submitted during the final phase of the hearing session that ended on February 14.
Insiders from the CEO’s office highlighted that the uploading of non-standard documents, such as newspaper cuttings and illegible papers, has complicated the verification process. The situation is particularly challenging in districts like Cooch Behar, Malda, Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas, and South 24 Parganas, where the incidence of uploading “unlisted” documents is unusually high. Additionally, East Burdwan and West Burdwan districts have reported slightly elevated irregularities in document submissions.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has scheduled the publication of the final voters’ list in West Bengal for February 28. Following this, a full ECI bench will visit the state on March 1 to assess the post-hearing scenario. Subsequently, the ECI will reveal the polling dates for the upcoming Assembly election in West Bengal.
