E-Paper
Confusion over status of 2.2mn West Bengal voters in Election Commission's special drive
The West Bengal Congress has sought clarity from the ECI on whether 22.21 lakh appellants can submit Form 6 during the special enrolment exercise.
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Will a special drive launched by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to enrol left-out and first-time voters apply to the 2.2 million people whose appeals against deletion are pending before appellate tribunals?
It remains unclear whether these people can file Form 6 applications to return to the rolls as new voters as election officials differ in their opinion.
A senior poll panel official said they won’t be able to access the drive.
“The special drive by the ECI to enrol the left-out voters will not apply to those voters whose cases are pending before the Appellate Tribunals in West Bengal,” the official in Kolkata told HT.
Also read: 3.7 million SIR appeals pending in Bengal; ECI proposes 42 election tribunals
ECI drive leaves status of 2.2 million appellants unclear
In September, ECI informed the Supreme Court that of the total 3.8 million appeals filed before the SC-mandated appellate tribunals in West Bengal, 2.2 million were filed by deleted voters seeking inclusion whose names got deleted in SIR.
The state chief electoral officer has already held a series of meetings with the district election officers (DEOs) and electoral registration officers (EROs) in West Bengal to launch the drive.
But confusion exists among DEOs and EROs. “The issue of whether a person whose case is pending before the appellate tribunal can apply with Form 6 in the special drive wasn’t discussed in the meeting. There is no clarity on this,” said a DEO.
DEOs say no written clarification has been issued
HT spoke to at least three DEOs who said the poll panel hadn’t issued any written clarification.
“If the persons whose cases are pending before the appellate tribunals cannot file fresh applications, then 2.2 million voters will be left out from the special drive. If they are allowed to file fresh applications by filing up form 6, then what would be the necessity of the appellate tribunals? They would become virtually defunct as all 2.2 million will file fresh applications,” said another DEO.
Congress seeks clarity from Election Commission
The Congress has written a letter to ECI seeking clarification. “Shri @subhankar_cong, President, WBPCC has written a letter to the @ECISVEEP today, seeking clarification on the whether 22.21 lakh appellants with appeals pending before the Appellate Tribunals in West Bengal, would be allowed to submit Form 6 for re-enrolment during “Special drive” for enrolment being initiated in West Bengal,” the West Bengal Congress wrote on X.
“The ECI has created this confusion. It should cancel the electoral roll and prepare a fresh electoral roll by going from house-to-house for ground verification,” said Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, a CPI(M) leader.
