Jalpaiguri, March 20: Officials of the Election Commission of India today said the draft electoral rolls of residents of 51 Bangladeshi enclaves, which had been embedded in Cooch Behar district and merged with India last year, would be published tomorrow.

Following the implementation of the Land Boundary Agreement by India with Bangladesh, enclaves of both the countries located on either side merged with the mainland of the respective countries. A section of people residing in the erstwhile Indian enclaves in Bangladesh has crossed the border and become Indian citizens by settling in Cooch Behar.

"After the exchange of land, it was decided that the names of the residents of the enclaves would be included in the electoral roll so that they could exercise their franchise like any other resident of India. The process was taken up by the administration and is about to finish shortly," a senior administrative official based in Cooch Behar said.

Chandra Bhusan Kumar, the chief electoral officer of Delhi who is heading a five-member team of special observers sent by the Election Commission of India to check the status of preparations for the coming Assembly polls in the districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar, held a meeting at the Circuit House here today. Senior police and civil officials from the four districts were present at the meeting.

After the meeting, Kumar told the media: "The draft electoral roll of voters, who were residents of the erstwhile enclaves, will be published tomorrow. In total, around 10,500 names will be published in the draft. Even after the publication of the draft roll, there would be options for addition of more names and deletion of existing names."

Sources said the 51 enclaves were likely to become part of six Assembly constituencies, Mekhliganj, Sitalkuchi, Dinhata, Natabari, Sitai and Toofangunj. The draft roll will mention the constituency, under which each voter of the enclaves is brought.

Announcing the election dates in New Delhi on March 4, Nasim Zaidi, the chief election commissioner, had said: "The last phase of West Bengal elections has been kept for Cooch Behar district where 16,000 people have become Indian citizens after the exchange of enclaves with Bangladesh and are eligible to vote. They will be included in the electoral rolls for the first time."

Polls in Cooch Behar district will be held on May 5, giving the administration ample time to prepare the electoral roll and distribute identity cards.

Bhusan Kumar said his focus was to ensure that the polls were conducted in a transparent manner. "The model code of conduct is in force and we are here to know what arrangements have been made for free, fair and peaceful election," he said.

Later this afternoon, the team headed for Darjeeling where a similar meeting will be held tomorrow.