After Bihar, EC’s Special Voter List Revision Set To Begin In Bengal From Nov 1
Following a controversial and large-scale voter list revision in Bihar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is now likely to implement its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal starting from November 1. Sources have indicated that all District Election Officers (DEOs) in the state have been put on high alert, with instructions to begin immediate preparations for the massive undertaking .According to sources, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal has communicated to all District Magistrates that the SIR process could commence at any moment and that all pending work must be completed without delay.
In anticipation of the formal announcement, the CEO’s office in the state will now operate 24×7, and all personnel involved in the revision work are required to be present. Furthermore, help desks will be established in the offices of every DEO and Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) to handle SIR-related matters.Once the official announcement is made, multi-party meetings will be convened at both the state and district levels to discuss the process, and all decisions will be reported back to the Election Commission. This move follows a similar exercise in poll-bound Bihar, where the SIR led to the deletion of 69 lakh names from the voter list due to deaths, the inclusion of illegal immigrants, and duplicate voter IDs.
The ECI defended the Bihar exercise as an effort to “purify” the electoral rolls ahead of the high-stakes assembly elections.The Bihar cleanup, however, drew sharp criticism from opposition parties, who accused the poll body of attempting to “disenfranchise voters.” The ECI has refuted these claims and has indicated that the SIR model implemented in Bihar will be rolled out nationwide to standardize voter verification. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had earlier stated, “The Election Commission has already taken a decision to conduct a pan-India SIR in every state and Union Territory. It is a work in progress.”
