Kolkata: Nearly half of the voters in West Bengal who are aged 100 years or above and still listed on the state’s electoral roll have been found to be deceased, according to the initial findings of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
An official from the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office said the exact number of such deceased centenarian voters will be confirmed only after the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
As per the latest ECI data, around 13,000 voters in the state are aged over 100.
The SIR process in West Bengal is expected to begin soon, with the ECI directing the CEO’s office to complete preparations, including the printing of enumeration forms, by October 15.
“During its recent tour to West Bengal to review the SIR preparedness in the state, a central ECI team specially focused on the deletion of names of deceased voters and duplicate voters from the voters’ list. In all probability, the process will start with the deletion of deceased post-century voters,” the official said.
He added that duplicate voters fall into two main categories: those who have shifted residences within the state but remain registered at both addresses, and those who have moved to other states and re-enrolled there while still appearing on the West Bengal list.
“In such cases, the name of the voter concerned enrolled with the old residence will be deleted,” the official explained.
The revision exercise comes amid strong opposition from the ruling Trinamool Congress. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently warned that she would not tolerate the deletion of voters from any particular religious community during the SIR.
A day later, Trinamool MP Partha Bhowmik cautioned that the state would face unrest if even one genuine voter’s name was removed. On Saturday, the party’s state general secretary Kunal Ghosh threatened to stage a protest in Delhi with one lakh supporters if any legitimate voter is struck off the rolls.