Kolkata, July 31 The West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office is on high alert following reports of new voter registrations being processed without valid supporting documents, even before the commencement of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
According to officials, 127 instances of new voter registrations without proper supporting documents have already been flagged. These are just from two constituencies -- Moyna in East Midnapore district and Baruipur (Purba) constituency in South 24 Parganas district.
Of these 127 instances, 87 names have surfaced from Moyna and the remaining 38 from Baruipur (Purba).
The figure has kept the officials at the CEO’s office on high alert, since these irregularities have surfaced from just two assembly constituencies, and that too before the beginning of the SIR. There are 294 constituencies in the state.
Interestingly, neither Moyna nor Baruipur (Purba) is located near international borders with neighbouring Bangladesh, making the revelations more concerning.
Senior officials fear that the number of such dubious registrations could be far higher in districts neighbouring Bangladesh.
The concern is further compounded as the number of Form-6 applications in certain districts during the last two weeks has witnessed a sharp spike. These districts are Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Malda, North Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia, and North & South 24 Parganas -- all having international borders with Bangladesh.
Form 6 is an application for the inclusion of one’s name in the electoral list.
On Wednesday, the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to initiate an immediate investigation and appropriate action against the electoral registration officers (EROs) who are clandestinely involved in accepting Form 6 applications from fictitious voters without proper verification.
Even the office of the CEO, West Bengal, had already issued a memo this week, citing instances of EROs receiving a considerable number of Form-6 applications from such fake voters during sample checks.
The situation, officials say, underscores the need for heightened vigilance ahead of the upcoming electoral roll revision exercise.
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