Notification for SIR in Bengal likely after CEC meeting in Delhi this week

Kolkata, Oct 21 The official notification for the special intensive revision (SIR) in West Bengal is likely to be announced soon after the crucial meeting of the Chief Election Commission Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar with the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all states in New Delhi this week, officials said on Tuesday.

The meeting with the CEOs of all states to be chaired by Kumar will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, and the main agenda for the meeting will be SIRs in the states, with immediate focus being on states like West Bengal, where Assembly elections are scheduled to be held next year, an insider from the office of the West Bengal CEO said.

"Besides the CEOs of all states, some other top officials from the CEOs' offices have also been asked to be present at the crucial two-day meeting this week," he added.

The SIR had already been completed in Bihar, which is going for polls this year.

The Election Commission (EC) also made it clear that the priority now is those states where Assembly elections are scheduled to be held next year.

The last time the SIR was conducted in West Bengal was in 2002.

The process for "mapping and matching" of the current voters' list with that in 2002 is almost at the verge of completion, and the representatives from the office of the West Bengal CEO is expected to give the updates in the matter to the Election Commission at the two-day meeting this week.

West Bengal CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal clarified last week that the existing voters whose names were there in the voters' list in 2002, when the last SIR in the state took place, will be automatically considered as valid voters.

Those current voters who do not have names in the voters' list for 2002 will have to submit any of the documents as citizenship proof, as mandated by the EC.

However, in this case, only an Aadhaar card will not be enough, and the voter concerned will need one of the other documents as mandated by the EC.

The SIR will be taking place in West Bengal amid strong opposition from the Trinamool Congress government.

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