84 lakh forms distributed under SIR in Bengal

As part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, more than 84 lakh enumeration forms were distributed across the state till 4 pm on Wednesday, an official of the Election Commission said. The month-long exercise began in the state on Tuesday.

“Yesterday, there were no untoward incidents reported from anywhere in the state. If any resistance is reported against a BLO, we immediately instruct the district electoral officers (DEOs) to investigate,” the official said.

As part of the process, 80,681 BLOs have been deployed across the 294 Assembly constituencies. Around 7.66 crore enumeration forms have so far been prepared, and each voter will receive two copies, the EC official said.

As per the guidelines for the SIR, BLO would countersign both forms. The officer would retain one filled-up form for the EC and return the second with a stamped acknowledgement, which may be required for future reference. The SIR is being conducted in West Bengal after a gap of 23 years. The last such revision of voters’ lists was held in the state in 2002.

Meanwhile, EC Principal Secretary SB Joshi, Deputy Secretary Abhinav Agarwal reached West Bengal as a part of their schedule to oversee the SIR rollout in Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, and Jalpaiguri districts, an official said.

“During the visit, they will evaluate the performance of BLOs and returning officers (ROs), and may interact with political leaders. Representatives from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer will also be present during the review process,” the official said.

The EC officials are scheduled to meet the district electoral officers, ADM (Election), all the Assistant Electoral Registration Officers, and sector magistrates in the three districts. On Thursday morning, they will conduct field visits in Alipurduar before heading to Cooch Behar. The next day, the EC officials will continue their field visits in Jalpaiguri and parts of Darjeeling, he added.

Man dies by suicide over ‘exclusion fear’

A middle-aged man allegedly died by suicide in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district on Wednesday. His family claimed he was terrified of being struck off the voters’ list during the SIR exercise. The TMC claimed that this was the eighth such incident in the state over fears regarding the SIR.