Mamata Banerjee Raises Concerns Over Voter Roll Revisions in West Bengal

Chief Minister's Letter to Election Commission

On Monday, Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, sent another letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, highlighting significant procedural issues in the state's special intensive revision of electoral rolls. She expressed her concerns regarding the potential harassment of voters and the threat to democratic rights stemming from the revision process.

The draft electoral rolls for the state were released on December 16, revealing that over 58 lakh voters had been removed due to being marked as deceased, relocated, or absent.

This deletion is provisional, allowing citizens to contest the removal of their names. Those affected can submit claims and objections regarding their status on the list.

In her recent correspondence, Banerjee noted that voters presenting documents during claim hearings often received no formal acknowledgment or receipt, which she argued deprived them of proof of their submissions and left them vulnerable to internal record-keeping errors.

She pointed out that during the verification phase, many documents were reported as 'not found' or 'unavailable,' leading to further deletions of voter names.

Banerjee criticized the use of artificial intelligence in digitizing the 2002 electoral rolls, claiming it resulted in errors that misclassified legitimate voters as having 'logical discrepancies.'

She questioned the rationale behind reverting to the 2002 process, asking if it implied that all revisions made since then were invalid.

Minor discrepancies, such as variations in names or ages, should be easily resolved without requiring voters to attend hearings, she argued.

This marks her fifth letter to the Chief Election Commissioner since November, as West Bengal prepares for Assembly elections in the coming months.

The special intensive revision of electoral rolls is also taking place in 11 other states and Union Territories.

In Bihar, where the revision was completed prior to the Assembly elections in November, approximately 47 lakh voters were excluded from the final electoral roll published on September 30, raising concerns about the potential removal of eligible voters.