Bengal Voter List Scrutiny: 12 New Observers for Border Districts, Discrepancy Cases

The eight districts specially identified under these categories are Malda, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, and Cooch Behar in North Bengal, and Murshidabad, Nadia, North 24 Paragans, and South 24 Parganas in South Bengal, insiders from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal said.

While the bordering districts and districts with a high number of "logical discrepancy" cases will be the prime focus for these 12 newly-appointed SROs, they have also been asked to focus on districts where there have been maximum reports of violence and disruption over the ongoing hearing sessions on the claims and objections to the draft voters' list in the state.

The four districts identified on this count are East Midnapore, West Midnapore, East Burdwan, and Hooghly. Again, of these four states, Hooghly had been identified as the most tension-prone on this count following several reports of hearing processes being disrupted frequently by ruling Trinamool Congress activists led by prominent party legislators from the district.

Insiders from the CEO's office said that the 12 newly-appointed SROs have been instructed to conduct random checks of the documents furnished by the voters being identified as "logical discrepancy" cases and to ensure that only documents listed by the Commission are accepted as valid identity proofs.

With the appointment of these 12 special electoral roll observers, the total number of SROs rises to 33, the highest among the states and Union Territories where the parallel SIR exercise is being conducted.

Since the beginning of the SIR exercise, there has been a periodic increase in the number of special electoral roll observers, considering the sensitivity of the voter list exercise in the state.

The team of special electoral roll observers in West Bengal is led by Subarea Gupta, a retired Indian Administrative Service officer from the West Bengal cadre.

Insiders from the office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer said that the Commission's decision to appoint these additional 12 special electoral roll observers has been taken as the ECI does not find the roles of certain District Magistrates, the District Electoral Officers (DEOs), Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) in conformity with the ECI-set guidelines for the voter revision exercise.

- IANS