As soon as the draft voter list was published, speculation began among voters and political parties. Some are searching on mobile to know whether their names are on the voter list. Some are running around with voter cards in hand. The possibility of names being dropped is highest in the Medinipur and Kharagpur Sadar assembly areas. According to the West Medinipur district administration's calculation, the names of more than 2 lakh 3 thousand voters have been dropped from the draft list. As soon as the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) began, it was seen that the number of untraceable voters in Kharagpur Sadar assembly is surprising. In some places, missing voters outnumber dead or transferred voters.
In Kharagpur Sadar assembly 44,139 people, in Medinipur assembly 23,530 people, in other parts of Kharagpur 15,479 people, in Keshpur 13,094 people, in Narayangadh 11,701 people, in Daspur 12,324 voters' names have been dropped. In Pingla, Ghatal, Chandrakona, Keshiari, Garbeta, Dantan assemblies, on average more than 9 thousand voters are not in the draft list. BLOs claim that in a booth in Hathatpalli of ward number 1 of Medinipur, 25 out of 99 cancelled voters could not be found. In one booth of Mission Girls Primary School, 74 out of 114 cancelled voters are missing. In booth number 87 of Lohania High Madrasa in Panchberia of Kharagpur Sadar assembly, 229 voters are cancelled. Where 129 people could not be found.
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The number of such missing voters is also high in various booths of the city including Panchberia, Kharida, Nimpura. Medinipur organizational district Trinamool president Sujoy Hazra said, "After the publication of the draft voter list, it has become clear that the Election Commission is working as an agent of BJP.
Our party workers are keeping watch in the area." District BJP co-president Shankar Guchhait said, "Names of many dead and fake voters are still on the list. We are conducting booth-wise searches. Whatever names are found, complaints will be lodged and applications will be made to remove unauthorized names." On Tuesday, West Medinipur district magistrate Bijin Krishna held an all-party meeting. The district administration has informed that the total voters before SIR were 40,15,897.
After enumeration, it has reduced to 38,12,556. Among these, 85,254 are dead, 42,548 missing and 68,829 transferred voters. 65,780 people will be called for hearing. According to the latest information from East Medinipur district administration, the total voters in the district are currently 41 lakh 41 thousand 412. Before SIR it was 42,83,348. After the publication of the list, hearing for voter list correction will begin in various BDO offices and designated schools in the coming days.
According to district administration sources, 1 lakh 41 thousand 936 voters have been dropped from the district's voter list in SIR. About 43,000 people will be called for hearing. East Medinipur has 16 assemblies. There are 4,420 booths. In the draft list, 16 thousand 12 voters have been marked as absent across the district. 4,957 voters who have the same person's name in multiple areas have been removed.
Names of 586 voters have also been dropped from the list for various other reasons. More than 43 thousand voters will be called for hearing by the district administration for information verification. In the hearing, the concerned voter will get the opportunity to keep their name on the list or get it re-included by showing necessary documents and evidence.
As soon as the first phase of SIR in the district ended, Jhargram district magistrate Akanksha Bhaskar held a press conference on Tuesday and informed that 15,149 people in the district have not been mapped. All of them will be sent notices by the Election Commission. A proposal has been sent to the State Election Commission to conduct 80 verification camps for 79 panchayats and one municipality in the district. Where voters whose names are not in the mapping will submit any one of 13 documents according to the Election Commission's guidelines.
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After examining the documents, the names of voters not in the mapping will be included in the voter list. Before the start of SIR, there were 9 lakh 54 thousand 800 voters in the district. In the first phase of SIR in four assemblies of the district, a total of 52 thousand 786 voters' names including dead, absent, permanent voter card change, having names in second place and other voters have been dropped, making the total voters 9 lakh 20 thousand 14. 15,149 people will be called for hearing.
The male-female gender ratio has decreased from 1010 to 987. The Election Commission claims that the number of women was higher because many women did not transfer their voter cards to their husband's address after marriage. However, regarding whether there are illegal infiltrators in the district, the district magistrate said, "This district is not in a border area. So such possibility is not that much. Nothing can be said until the verification of unmapped voters is completed."
