West Bengal Electoral Roll Revision: Nearly 91 Lakh Voters Removed Ahead of Assembly Elections
Significant Changes in Voter Lists
As part of a thorough revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal, approximately 91 lakh voters have been eliminated from the state's voter lists, according to recent data from the Election Commission.
This deletion accounts for about 11.9% of the total electorate, which stood at 7.6 crore before the revision process commenced.
The revision concluded after judicial officers reviewed around 60 lakh claims and objections. Voters who were removed during this process have the option to appeal their removal in 19 designated tribunals.
Final decisions on 59.8 lakh cases have been confirmed and signed off by judicial officers, as reported by the chief electoral officer's office.
Out of the 60 lakh cases adjudicated, over 27 lakh voters were deemed 'excludable' and subsequently removed from the lists, bringing the total deletions to 90.8 lakh, according to an unnamed official.
There are still 22,163 cases pending the completion of e-signatures by judicial officers, which may lead to additional names being added to the deletion count.
Regionally, the highest number of deletions occurred in Murshidabad, a Muslim-majority area, where 4.5 lakh names were removed. This was followed by North 24 Parganas with 3.2 lakh and Malda with 2.3 lakh deletions.
The Assembly elections in West Bengal are set to take place in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with the counting of votes scheduled for May 4.
West Bengal is among 12 states and Union Territories that underwent this special intensive revision of electoral rolls.
On February 28, the Election Commission released the final electoral roll for West Bengal, indicating that over 61 lakh voters had been excluded. However, the process continued with around 60 lakh cases still under review due to objections regarding their exclusion from the draft rolls published in December.
On February 20, the Supreme Court mandated the appointment of judicial officers at the district judge level to assist in completing the revision process.
On March 10, the Supreme Court also ordered the establishment of appellate tribunals, consisting of former High Court chief justices and judges, to address appeals against exclusions. Individuals whose claims for inclusion were denied by judicial officers can approach these tribunals.