Bengal SIR: ECI to seek explanations from BLOs on doubtful cases in draft voters’ list

Kolkata, Dec 21 : The Election Commission of India (ECI) will take written explanations from the booth-level officers (BLOs) engaged in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal on the doubtful cases in the draft voters’ list, which was published on December 16.

Insiders from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, said that the ECI had identified around 1.4 crore of such doubtful cases where written explanations will be sought from the BLOs.

In the written statements on the matter, the BLOs concerned will have to explain the logic behind recommending their names for enlistment first in the draft voters' lists, and later in the final voters’ list, which will be published on February 14 next year.

Based on the explanations given by the BLOs, the ECI will decide which of these doubtful cases will be referred for hearing on claims and objections.

The hearing session on the claims and objections is expected to start by December 27.

These doubtful cases include voters who were not listed in the 2002 voters list, despite their current age being 45 or above, and therefore applied for inclusion in the draft voters’ list through progeny mapping.

“The last time the SIR was conducted in West Bengal was in 2002. A voter, who is currently 45 years old or above, was supposed to have his or her name in the 2002 list, considering that they were 18 years of age or above at that time. There lies the question of why they did not get enrolled as voters then and hence had to depend on progeny mapping during the current SIR,” a CEO’s office insider said.

The second category of such doubtful cases is about those voters who became fathers when they were at the age of 15 or even younger. An instance has surfaced where a particular voter became a father when he was just five years old.

The third category of such doubtful cases is those who became grandfathers when they were just 40 years old, or even younger.

The fourth and final category of such doubtful cases is those voters in whose cases the names of fathers and mothers are the same.

The final voters’ list will be published on February 14, 2026. Soon after that, the ECI will announce the dates for the Assembly elections in West Bengal scheduled next year.