Kolkata, 19 January (H.S.): The Election Commission of India has issued a detailed clarification regarding large-scale irregularities detected during the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll in West Bengal, stating that serious inconsistencies have been found in the family-related details of a significant number of voters.

According to the Commission, around 9.4 million cases in the state have been flagged as “logical inconsistencies” during the Special Intensive Revision process. These discrepancies came to light during the lineage-matching exercise, where implausible and unreliable family relationships were found recorded in the electoral rolls.

The office of the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal said that in several instances, bogus voters attempted to retain their names on the electoral roll by falsely linking themselves to genuine voters through fabricated family relationships.

An official cited examples where elderly voters were shown as parents of eight to ten individuals, while verification revealed that they had only two children, with no blood relation to the other listed individuals.

In another case, a 64-year-old voter was shown as the father of two individuals aged 60 and 59. Officials noted that this would imply the person became a father at the age of five, an impossibility. Subsequent verification confirmed that the two individuals were fake voters.

The Election Commission acknowledged that some political parties have raised objections to voters, particularly senior citizens, being summoned for hearings. However, the Commission maintained that such discrepancies cannot be ignored and must be addressed through due process.

The Commission reiterated that its objective is to ensure that no genuine voter is excluded from the electoral roll while simultaneously preventing any ineligible or fake voter from remaining on the list.

The last date for submitting claims and objections to the draft electoral roll is Monday. The hearing process will continue until February 7, and the final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on February 14. Following this, the dates for the West Bengal Assembly elections are expected to be announced.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh