The deadline for hearings on claims and objections to West Bengal’s draft voters’ list is approaching, with 6.25 lakh additional names marked for exclusion in the final list. The scrutiny of submitted documents will continue for seven more days, potentially increasing the number of exclusions. During the enumeration phase, over 58 lakh voters, including deceased, duplicated, and shifted voters, were already identified for exclusion from the draft list.
The final count of deletions will only be known after the publication of the final voters’ list on February 28, following an extension from the initial date of February 14. Majority of the 6.25 lakh additional names earmarked for exclusion are from voters who did not attend the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearing sessions despite receiving multiple notices. These include both “unmapped” voters with no link to the 2002 list and “logical discrepancy” cases with irregular family-tree data.
After the final voters’ list is released, the Election Commission of India (ECI) will visit West Bengal for a two-day review, leading to the announcement of polling dates for the upcoming Assembly elections. The West Bengal CEO has recommended a single-phase poll this time, a departure from the previous multi-phase elections in the state. The last single-phase election in West Bengal occurred during the 2001 state Assembly elections.
