Bengal Seeks Extension for Voter List Hearings, Final Roll Publication Delayed

West Bengal Seeks Extension for Voter List Hearings, Final Roll Publication Delayed

In a significant development concerning West Bengal's electoral process, Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal has formally written to the Election Commission of India, seeking a one-week extension for the ongoing Summary Revision (SIR) hearings and verification. The proposed extension would push the deadline from the current schedule to February 14, consequently delaying the publication of the final electoral roll.

Impact on Voters and Political Tensions

The hearing phase of the SIR exercise in Bengal was originally slated for completion on Saturday, with the final voters' list to be published on February 14. However, this extension request means that approximately 1.4 crore voters who have been queuing at hearing centers across the state since December 27, along with an additional 6 lakh voters whose hearings are still pending, will now face a wait of at least two more weeks to confirm their inclusion on the state's electoral roll.

This situation has intensified the political landscape in Bengal, fueling a fierce confrontation between the ruling Trinamool Congress on one side and the Election Commission and BJP on the other. The controversy reached a climax when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appeared in the Supreme Court as a "people's petitioner," an unprecedented move for a serving chief minister. Banerjee has consistently criticized the rushed nature of the SIR exercise, highlighting the immense pressure that has reportedly led to the deaths of several voters and Booth Level Officers (BLOs).

It is noteworthy that the current SIR hearings cover about one-fifth of Bengal's total electorate of 7.6 crore, yet they have been compressed into just six weeks. In contrast, the 2002 SIR exercise was conducted over a span of two years. This marks the second time the hearing deadline in Bengal has been extended; on November 30, the Election Commission previously extended the SIR schedule by a week, shifting all subsequent phases by seven days.

Reasons Behind the Extension Request

Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal elaborated on the rationale for the extension, stating, "I sent a proposal to the EC in the evening to extend the deadline by seven days after being informed by seven-eight District Electoral Officers (DEOs) that some work was still pending in a few places. In some areas, hearing is yet to be completed. Work related to uploading of documents and verification is pending in a few places. A final decision is also pending with the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) in many assembly constituencies."

Agarwal confirmed that the publication of the final electoral roll, initially scheduled for February 14, will also be deferred as a result. He explained, "The final list will be deferred because after the hearing and verification phase, we need to check the list before sending it to EC. Earlier, we were supposed to send it by February 10. The Commission needs another 3-4 days to publish the final electoral roll. Now, if the hearing and verification phase is extended, the final publication of electoral roll will also be deferred."

Agarwal provided detailed insights into the progress of the SIR exercise, noting that different districts are at varying stages of hearing and verification. Specific areas where hearings remain incomplete include:

• One assembly segment in the Kolkata North Lok Sabha constituency.
• Kolkata Port assembly constituency under the Kolkata South Lok Sabha seat.
• Seven assembly constituencies in South 24 Parganas.
• Noapara in North 24 Parganas.
• The Kurseong assembly seats.

Despite these pending cases, Agarwal emphasized that only 3%-4% of the total hearings are incomplete. Of the hearings that have been completed, 75%-80% of documents have been uploaded, and 70%-80% of these uploaded documents have undergone verification. Additionally, EROs and AEROs have disposed of 25%-30% of cases where documents have been verified so far.