Kolkata: The number of booths in West Bengal identified as not having a single deceased voter, or a duplicate voter with names in two places, or any voter who has shifted elsewhere, has undergone a drastic revision and dropped to just seven as on Thursday.
This marks a steep fall from the abysmal figure of 2,208 reported on Monday evening, which subsequently declined first to 480 on Tuesday evening and again to just 29 on Wednesday evening.
Of the seven election booths that are still shown as not having a single deceased voter, or a duplicate voter with names in two places, or any voter who has shifted elsewhere, include two in Malda district and one each in Jalpaiguri, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, West Midnapore, and Purulia districts.
In the first data released on Monday evening, which showed the number of such booths at 2,208, South 24 Parganas topped the list, with the figure being recorded in that district then being at 760.
Now, as on Thursday evening, that number has come down to just one.
The statistics changed only daily from Tuesday evening, only after the Election Commission of India (ECI) continued putting pressure on the district magistrates, as well as the district electoral officers, for fresh reviews of such booths.
State leaders of the BJP claimed that, going by the pattern of decline since Monday, it is now almost certain that the number of booths showing not a single “deceased” voter or “duplicate” voter or “shifted” voter comes down to zero by the weekend.
The three-stage Special Intensive Revision (SIR) started on November 4, and the first stage will end with the publication of the draft voters’ list on December 16.
The publication of the draft list will follow the notice phase, which is issuance, hearing, verification, and decision on enumeration forms and disposal of claims and objections to be done concurrently by the electoral registration officers (EROs), happening between December 16 and February 7, 2026.
The checking of the various parameters of electoral rolls and obtaining the ECI’s permission for final publication will be on February 10, 2026.
The final publication of the electoral roll will be on February 14, which was earlier fixed on February 7.
(IANS)
