Jyoti Prakash Mukherjee, Asansol -:
The draft voter list was published in Paschim Bardhaman district like other districts of the state on the specified day as previously announced. Later, an all-party meeting was held at the District Magistrate’s office in the presence of Paschim Bardhaman District Magistrate S. Ponnabalam, Additional District Magistrate Shubhashini E., SDO (Sadar) Biswajit Bhattacharya, other administrative officials, and representatives of various political parties recognized by the Election Commission.
In the meeting, the District Magistrate stated that out of more than 23 lakh 27 thousand voters in the district, approximately 3 lakh 6 thousand voters have been excluded so far. These excluded voters include those who have moved, are absent, or are duplicate entries. Approximately one and a half lakh voters will be summoned for hearings. This hearing process will take place in the second phase of the SIR. However, no clear guidelines have yet been received regarding this matter yet.
However, hearings will be held at the ERO or AER level. Another all-party meeting will be convened before the hearings and the final framework for the hearings will be finalized afterward. Those whose names have been excluded from the draft voter list can submit their objections until January 15th. The final voter list will be published on February 7th. He further added that the draft list has been uploaded to the district’s website. Any voter can check their name by entering their voter ID card number and the name of their assembly constituency.
After the all-party meeting, Paschim Bardhaman District Congress President Debesh Chakraborty said, “We are satisfied with the SIR process so far. However, some doubts and confusions arose regarding certain issues which we raised with the District Magistrate during the meeting. He said that these issues will be resolved after discussions with the Election Commission.”
On the other hand, the BJP stated, since the SIR process began in the state, the ruling Trinamool Congress has been opposing the SIR process since its inception. They highly praised the state government employees involved in this process. After the final list was published, they declined to comment further on the matter.
Akash Mukherjee, the general secretary of the Trinamool Congress in Paschim Bardhaman district, said that the District Magistrate informed them about many important issues at the all-party meeting held today. He further stated that the party has clearly informed the District Magistrate that no valid voter’s name should be removed from the electoral roll.
