Kolkata, 04 December (H.S.): In a sharp turnaround during West Bengal’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the number of polling booths reportedly containing not a single deceased, duplicate or shifted voter has plunged dramatically to just 29. The figure stood at 2,208 on Monday evening before dropping to 480 on Tuesday evening, and further shrinking after another round of scrutiny ordered by the Election Commission.

On Monday, district authorities had identified 2,208 booths across the state where no discrepancies of any kind were found. The number was unusually high, prompting the Commission to seek detailed reports from district magistrates. After revised reports were submitted within 24 hours, Tuesday evening’s figure stood at 480. Still unconvinced, the Commission instructed an additional layer of verification, following which the count fell to 29 by Wednesday evening.

According to the latest data, South 24 Parganas district witnessed the most dramatic correction. The district had 760 such booths on Monday night — a number that collapsed to just 20 by Wednesday evening.

Leaders of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party have claimed that the steep decline in just 38 hours indicates the possibility that the number could hit zero by Thursday evening. They allege that the trend exposes how inflated the earlier figures were and argue that similar discrepancies may exist across the state, suggesting widespread addition of fake names.

The Commission’s ongoing reviews and booth-level verification reflect a tightening of the voter list purification process. However, the massive downward revisions have triggered concerns about the reliability of the earlier data and have sparked questions over whether conducting the SIR itself holds any meaning if such large inconsistencies exist.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh