The Election Commission on Friday published the second supplementary voter list in West Bengal following adjudications as part of the special intensive revision exercise of the electoral rolls in the poll-bound state, The Hindu reported.
The first supplementary list, released on Monday, covered about 29 lakh cases, The Indian Express reported. An additional 8 lakh cases were reportedly resolved in the second list, taking the total to 37 lakh.
Of the 60 lakh cases, more than 23 lakh still need to be adjudicated by judicial officers deputed by the Supreme Court.
Booth-wise lists were made available on the poll panel’s website at 11.30 pm on Friday, but the pages showing details of deletions and inclusions were not accessible because of “technical glitches”, The Hindu quoted an unidentified official as saying.
The poll panel did not disclose the number of inclusions or deletions in the second list.
State Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal had earlier said that persons whose names are excluded can challenge the decision before appellate tribunals to be set up by the Calcutta High Court, The Indian Express reported.
Notably, the names of former High Court judge Sahidullah Munshi and his family members have been included in the list released on Friday, Live Law reported. On Thursday, Munshi said that his name had been deleted from the voter list after adjudication, while those of his wife and elder son remained under review and his younger son had applied as a new voter.
He described the experience as “very humiliating and painful”.
West Bengal is among the 12 states and Union Territories where the special intensive revision of the electoral roll was undertaken.
On February 28, the Election Commission published the final electoral roll for West Bengal, showing that more than 61 lakh voters had been excluded.
However, the process continued with about 60 lakh “doubtful and pending” cases remaining under adjudication based on their objections to their exclusions from the draft rolls published in December.
On February 20, the Supreme Court ordered that judicial officers of the rank of district judge or additional district judge be appointed to help complete the revision exercise in the state amid a tussle between the Trinamool Congress government and the Election Commission.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had moved the Supreme Court against the exercise, raising concerns that voter roll revision poses an immediate and irreversible risk of mass disenfranchisement of eligible electors in the Assembly elections. She sought the court’s direction that the elections be conducted on the basis of the existing electoral rolls prepared last year.
The state polls will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The votes will be counted on May 4, alongside those in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu.
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