Kolkata, 14 January (H.S.): More than 11,000 “illegal” voters have been identified so far during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal. District-wise data show that Nadia accounts for the highest number of such voters, while no illegal electors have been detected yet in Bankura and the southern part of Kolkata.

According to figures released by the Election Commission, hearings have been completed for 9,30,993 voters under the SIR process, and their details have been uploaded online. Following document verification and hearings, Electoral Registration Officers have identified 11,472 voters as “illegal”, whose names will be deleted from the final electoral rolls. It may be noted that Electoral Registration Officers are state government employees.

The SIR exercise aims to ensure a clean and error-free voters’ list. So far, a total of 65,78,058 notices have been generated across the state, of which 32,49,091 have already been issued. After hearings of the notified voters, illegal electors have been identified based on verification outcomes.

District-wise data reveal that Nadia has reported the highest number of illegal voters at 9,228. In contrast, despite 1,36,561 notices being issued in the southern part of Kolkata, no illegal voters have been found there so far. Similarly, Bankura, where 1,63,357 notices were issued, has not reported any illegal voters to date.

In other districts, Cooch Behar has reported 10 illegal voters, Jalpaiguri four, Darjeeling and Uttar Dinajpur two each, and Dakshin Dinajpur 195. Malda has recorded 15 such voters, Murshidabad 68, North 24 Parganas 147 and South 24 Parganas 69. In northern Kolkata, 54 illegal voters were identified, while Howrah reported 26, Hooghly 989 and Purba Medinipur two. Paschim Medinipur recorded 105 such cases, Purulia 44, Purba Bardhaman 167 and Birbhum 264. Among the hill and forest districts, Alipurduar reported nine illegal voters, Kalimpong 65, Jhargram three and Paschim Bardhaman four.

The findings come amid heightened political debate over the SIR process, which is aimed at streamlining the electoral rolls ahead of upcoming elections.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh