Bengal opposition parties want civic polls held on pre-SIR voters’ list

Kolkata, Oct 27 (IANS) Opposition parties in West Bengal on Tuesday urged the State Election Commission (WBSEC) to conduct the upcoming elections to seven urban civic bodies using the voters’ list that existed before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. They said the ongoing revision process has led to the exclusion of many eligible voters.

The demand was raised during an all-party meeting convened by the WBSEC to discuss the polls for seven municipal bodies scheduled later this year.

According to sources, representatives of the Mamata All India Trinamool Congress, the CPI(M)-led Left Front, and the Congress expressed concern that a large number of voters had been dropped from the electoral rolls during the revision process.

“The representatives from three political outfits claimed that during the SIR exercise names of many eligible voters were deleted from the voters’ list, with the fates of many of them hanging at the end of the Appellate Tribunals. They contended that in such a situation it would be unfair for those voters if the polling for the urban civic bodies were conducted based on the post-SIR voters’ list,” said a WBSEC official.

The process of special revision of the voters’ list is currently underway. According to the schedule, the draft list will be published on November 12, and the final (revised) list will be out on January 4.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) had earlier said that those whose names were included in the list till July this year will be able to vote. Now, with the special revision exercise underway, voting will be conducted as per the latest list, and if polling for the seven urban civic bodies is held in November, the October list will be accepted as the final.

Sources said there had initially been plans to hold polling for the seven civic bodies in the last week of November and complete the formation of new municipal boards by early December. However, uncertainties over voters’ list preparation and ward delimitation have cast doubt on the timeline, making a November election increasingly unlikely.

The civic bodies due for elections by the end of the year include the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Howrah Municipal Corporation. Polling for the remaining urban local bodies is expected to be held in February next year.

–IANS

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