The second phase of the Election Commission’s special intensive revision of the electoral roll began on Saturday, with voters who could not be mapped to the 2002 post-SIR electoral rolls turning up at the 3,234 hearing centres
across Bengal.
In the first phase of the hearing, around 32 lakh voters would be summoned. They will have to appear before the designated officials with documents — specifically, one of the 11 testimonials specified by the EC — to have their names enrolled in the voter list. To scrutinise these documents, the EC has appointed 3,234 micro-observers, who are central government employees.
The first day of the hearing did not pass off smoothly as several complaints and grievances were reported from across the state. The Telegraph presents a snapshot of some of the incidents and the response of
the EC.
Kakoli’s grievance
Trinamool Congress’s Barasat MP Kakali Ghosh Dastidar alleged that despite having proper links with the 2002 voters’ list, her two sons, sister and mother had been summoned for hearings.
“If the family members of an MP since 2009 and a state minister (her husband Sudarshan Ghosh Dastidar) can be summoned, the fate of common people can well be imagined,” she said.
A source in the Bengal chief electoral officer (CEO)’s office said that the MP’s relatives had not linked themselves with the 2002 electoral roll.
The CEO, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, took to X to reject the charges.
“The Claim is misleading. The Enumeration forms clearly shows that there is no linkage. So they are called for hearing as per relevant provisions of the notification of ECI,” he wrote on his official X handle.
Rushed to hospital
Sita Mondal, a resident of Khali village in Hingalganj block of North 24-Parganas, fell ill while standing in a queue for the hearing. She was rushed to Sandeler Bill Rural Hospital, where she was discharged after being administered medication. Family members said Sita had panicked after receiving a summons and was anxious about the possibility of her name being deleted from the voter list.
TMC’s wrath
At Tehatta in Nadia district, Trinamool workers staged a demonstration at the block development office after 491 “unmapped” voters, out of a total 1,176 voters of polling station number 215 in the Palashipara Assembly segment in Tehatta 1 block, were issued summonses to appear for hearings.
This, protesters alleged, was done despite the voters having links to the 2002 electoral roll. Among the 491 voters summoned was local gram panchayat member
Tuhin Mondal.
Tehatta 1 BDO Sanjib Sen said the mobile application used by booth-level officers (BLOs) showed no linkage of those voters with the 2002 list. He added that the matter was being re-examined to ensure that villagers were not subjected to
unnecessary harassment.
Tearful hearing
In Ranaghat, Nadia, 28-year-old Manu Mitra broke down in tears after being summoned by the EC and asked to submit her father’s death certificate. Born in 1997, Manu’s name did not figure in the 2002 voter list, nor did her mother’s, though her father, Prabir Das, was listed in the benchmark roll of that year.
Manu said she had initially submitted her birth certificate and school admission certificate to the authorities, which indicated Prabir Das as her father. Then, the commission sought proof of her father’s death. She said her parents had separated a few months before her birth, after which she was raised by her mother, who later remarried. Her biological father died when she was still a child, at a time when she had no contact with him.
Arranging his death certificate has now become a major hurdle, she said, a situation that left her distraught.
Minor issues: EC
Sources in the EC said the hearing of voters started as planned, without major problems, except for a few instances across the state.
“In most of the places, the voters participated in the hearing and cooperated with the officials. At some places, there was unnecessary tension because of the intervention of political parties. The DEOs were instructed to address the situation with utmost sincerity,” said an official.
A section of the officials said that it was brought to the notice of the poll panel that some voters were marked as unmapped because of technical lapses in the BLO app. The poll panel has decided not to call those voters for the hearing. Instead, the BLOs would visit the residence of the voters again and would send a report along with the clip of the relevant portion of the 2002 rolls for the consideration of the ERO.
“If the ERO is satisfied, the voter would be exempted from the hearing,” said a source.
A section of the officials said that the poll panel would not have much trouble in conducting the hearing of 32 lakh unmapped electorate, as a majority of them were
genuine voters.
“They could not link themselves with the 2002 rolls because of several reasons, including the fact that they used to stay outside the state to earn a living. They are expected to submit valid documents,” said a source.
The problem, sources said, would occur when voters with logical discrepancies would
be called.
“It would be tough to establish their absurd claims, like the age gap of less than 15 years between them and their parents. It is expected that serious troubles would take place when these voters are called for the hearing,” said a source.