With barely three days remaining before the 21 February deadline, the scrutiny of voters’ documents submitted during claims and objections hearings in West Bengal is facing fresh hurdles as around 20 lakh sets of documents are still awaiting re-verification by District Magistrates, who also function as District Electoral Officers (DEOs).
Officials in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, said a bulk of the pending cases fall under the category of “logical discrepancies.”
According to them, micro-observers flagged inconsistencies during the ongoing verification exercise, noting that several submissions did not tally with the 13 identity documents recognised by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
“Based on the observations made during scrutiny, such cases were sent back to the concerned DEOs for another round of verification. The commission has instructed the officers to complete the process and submit their reports at the earliest,” a senior official in the CEO’s office said.
Adding to the delay, officials confirmed that nearly 1.14 lakh documents submitted during the hearing process are yet to be uploaded on the system. As a result, scrutiny of those applications has not even begun.
“In light of these developments, meeting the 21 February deadline appears uncertain. There is a strong possibility that the scrutiny timeline may be extended once again, which could also push back the publication of the final voters’ list,” sources said.
At present, the final electoral roll is scheduled to be released on 28 February, after the earlier date of 14 February was revised.
Meanwhile, a full Bench of the Election Commission of India is expected to visit West Bengal on 1 March for a two-day review of the situation following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
Shortly after the visit, the commission is likely to announce the polling schedule for the Assembly elections due later this year.
Sources said the commission is considering holding elections in fewer phases compared to previous polls. While the CEO’s office has suggested a single-phase election, the final call will rest with the Commission.