'No genuine voter will be axed': CEC stresses fear-free Bengal polls

The EC is prioritising a violence-free and fair environment for the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections, ensuring all eligible voters can participate without fear.

Asserting that no eligible voter's name would be removed from the electoral rolls in West Bengal, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Tuesday said the EC's priority was to ensure free, fair and peaceful polls in the state as it stepped up preparations for the upcoming assembly polls, amid a charged political atmosphere.

Addressing a press conference in Kolkata after the commission's full bench held a series of meetings with political parties and senior administrative officials to review Bengal's poll preparedness, Kumar said the EC will finalise the state's election schedule, including the number of phases it would vote in, after the panel returns to Delhi.

Kumar said the commission has instructed officers in the state to enforce rule of law strictly without fear or favour.

"We have reviewed the law and order condition in the state and the entire government, led by its chief secretary, the DGP, the CPs and SPs, has assured the commission that the election will remain free of violence and intimidation," the CEC said.

Kumar was unambiguous on the operational boundaries within which the commission expected the state officials to work during the poll process.

"All officials must work within the purview of law, constitutional provisions and EC's instructions. Any slackness in that regard will result in strict disciplinary action," he said.

Speaking about the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), a politically sensitive exercise that has triggered sharp exchanges between the TMC and the BJP, Kumar said the process was being carried out across the country in accordance with constitutional norms.

"Logical Discrepancy (LD) cases were flagged off in all 12 states where the SIR exercise was held. The cases where voters remained unmapped with the 2002 rolls, whether deliberate or by mistake, were scanned by BLOs with the help of documents provided," the CEC stated, rejecting claims that LD cases were introduced only for Bengal.

Explaining the data patterns that emerged during the SIR in the state, Kumar revealed that around 4-5 percent of electors failed to map themselves with the 2002 rolls post submission of enumeration forms, while an additional 7-8 percent of voters were found to have mapped themselves incorrectly, either deliberately or by inadvertent errors.

According to EC data released on February 28, around 63.66 lakh names, about 8.3 percent of the electorate, were deleted since the revision began in November last year, bringing down the voter base from about 7.66 crore to a little over 7.04 crore.

To a question on the engagement of micro-observers to dispose of LD cases, Kumar said, "In Bengal, a lot of cases remained undecided at the level of EROs and AEROs before the publication of final rolls because of which micro-observers had to be appointed for document verification, which had to be carried out stringently."

The CEC avoided a direct answer on the fate of the voters who continue to remain in the 'under adjudication' list and whether polls would be announced before the publication of supplementary rolls.

"People whose names have been deleted have the option of filling Form 6 for re-inclusion. Those under adjudication are being scrutinised by the learned judicial officers appointed by the Calcutta high court in accordance with a Supreme Court order," he said.

Kumar's remarks came amid allegations by the ruling TMC that the poll panel had unfairly deleted nearly 64 lakh voters from the state's electoral rolls following the SIR and kept some 60 lakh more names under scrutiny.

Following the February 28 publication of the post-SIR electoral rolls, the EC will also upload supplementary voter lists on its website in due course and keep updating them, he added.

Calling pure electoral rolls "a bedrock of democracy", Kumar said the EC aimed to ensure all genuine voters retain their right to vote while making certain that no ineligible voters got included in the list.

The EC chief said the number of phases for the assembly polls would depend on the final assessment of the law-and-order preparedness of the state machinery.

"We will take a decision on the number of phases of polls after reaching Delhi and discussing the outcome of meetings held during the last two days," he said.

To a question on voters' helplessness amid loose law enforcement, the CEC warned that the commission will maintain zero tolerance towards violence or intimidation of voters or poll officials.

"Strict action would be taken against those found involved in violence. We are also reviewing past cases of individuals or groups who have indulged in violence and following up on them," Kumar said.

Noting that confidence-building measures among voters will be given due importance, he said the EC will "closely monitor" deployment of central forces by state authorities during the polls.

Kumar refused to respond to comments by TMC leaders alleging partisan behaviour by him.

"It is not appropriate for the EC to comment on what political parties are saying. The commission works according to Constitutional norms," he said.

Kumar coined the slogan 'Chunao porbo, Paschimbanger gorbo' (Election phase is the pride of West Bengal), while appealing to voters to ensure that polling takes place in an atmosphere free from violence and intimidation.

Speaking in Bangla to greet the people of Bengal at the beginning of his address, the CEC compared the vastness of the state's electorate to that of France, Australia and Uruguay put together.