SIR: ECI flags 5 Bengal border districts over ‘unlisted’ document uploads

With hearings on claims and objections to West Bengal’s draft electoral roll now concluded and scrutiny of supporting identity documents set to continue until 21 February, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has flagged five districts where the uploading of “unlisted” documents has been found to be unusually high during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

The districts identified are Cooch Behar, Malda, Murshidabad, North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas — all of which share international borders with Bangladesh, with South 24-Parganas also having an extensive coastal boundary.

Sources in the office of the chief electoral officer (CEO), West Bengal, said that while these five districts recorded abnormally high instances of such irregular uploads, similar discrepancies were marginally elevated in East Burdwan and West Burdwan as well.

According to officials, most of the questionable uploads were detected in cases marked under “logical discrepancy,” rather than among “unmapped” voters. “Unmapped” voters are those unable to establish linkage — either through self-mapping or progeny mapping — with the 2002 electoral roll, the last time an intensive revision was conducted in the state. In contrast, “logical discrepancy” cases refer to anomalies uncovered in family linkages during progeny mapping, such as inconsistent or implausible family trees.

The Commission had earlier cautioned district magistrates and district electoral officers to ensure that only the 13 officially listed documents are accepted as valid identity proof. Despite this directive, the continued uploading of unlisted documents in the flagged districts has reportedly caused concern within the poll body.

At a virtual full-bench meeting chaired by chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Friday, district magistrates and district electoral officers were instructed to remove all unlisted documents already uploaded in the system by 16 February.

The final voters’ list in West Bengal is scheduled to be published on 28 February. Beginning 1 March, a full bench of the ECI will undertake a two-day visit to the state to review the post-SIR situation. The commission is expected to announce polling dates for the crucial West Bengal Assembly elections later this year soon after the visit.

With IANS inputs