After Didi's Heat, EC Says 40% Axed Among 32 Lakh 'Adjudicated', Sorted In WB SIR

Kolkata: The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday evening shared a figure of fresh deletions of around 12.80 lakh voters’ names in the special intensive revision (SIR) in West Bengal hours after chief minister and Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee targeted its silence in a blistering attack about the first supplementary list’s data from three Assembly poll campaign rallies.

According to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, around 32 lakh voters’ names have so far been sorted from the tally of 60.06 lakh logical discrepancy cases which have been pending ‘under adjudication' in the SIR. Among the 32 lakhs, nearly 40%, which account for around 12.80 lakhs, have been deleted by the EC, sources said.

With this, a total of around 76.46 lakh names, including 63.66 lakhs which were dropped earlier on February 28, have been removed in the SIR from the voters' list in the state so far. Though it is not clear how many names among the 12.80 lakh were axed in the first supplementary voters' list, which was quietly uploaded on EC website before the midnight of March 23 without any public data on addition and deletion of names, the figure is estimated to be around 10 lakhs.

The EC, which has been under fire from the political parties including ruling TMC for lack of clarity in the SIR, has also decided to upload the voters’ names, which have been resolved, on its site to help them to check their status. Further, a plan has been underway to share the figure of the cases, which will be sorted out daily, online from March 27 when the second supplementary list is also expected.

The details from the EC came after Ms Banerjee came down heavily on it from three poll campaign rallies she addressed in North Bengal. In one of them at Dabgram-Fulbari, she claimed, “Did you know they had deleted all the names on Tuesday night? None of the names were there. Suddenly all of them vanished. Then an excuse of technical fault was given. When I checked my name online, I found myself 'under adjudication'. Do you understand what's happening? There is no job that they can't do. So be prepared.”

At Matigara Naxalbari, the CM alleged, “An excuse of hacking was floated after the sudden disappearance of all the voters' names from the EC site. People should be informed if it was really hacking or a mischief. I have been fighting for your rights from the streets to the Supreme Court. I won't quit. Still the supplementary list has not been published. Where is it? We will open camps and provide lawyers free of cost for those whose names get deleted. All you have to do is to make an application.” She also vowed to foil and attempt to carve out North Bengal of the state.