Why the Election Commission has told West Bengal officials not to summon ‘unmapped’ voters listed in the 2002 rolls

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued fresh instructions directing election officials in West Bengal to not summon voters, who have been identified as 'unmapped' but have their names present in the 2002 voter list for hearings.

The set of instructions came after the poll body is being criticised over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.

As per reports, a letter by the Additional Chief Electoral Officer (ACEO), West Bengal said that though hearing notices may have been generated from the system for such cases, these electors should not be called for hearing and instead be kept with the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO)/Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO).

According to the communication by the ACEO, "BLOs (Booth Level Officers) may be sent to the field [to] take a photo with such elector and the same may be uploaded. In cases where discrepancies are detected later on with the hard copy of 2002 Electoral Roll by ERO/AERO or on complaints, the concerned electors may be called for hearing after servicing notices."

After a draft electoral roll was published on December 16 in the state and submission of forms, 58 lakh voters were removed following the revelation of them being dead, shifted or absent.

The EC has also revealed that about 31 lakh other voters were also removed after not being found on the 2002 voter list.

The poll body has also issued notices directing the electors to prove their eligibility to vote by physically appearing.

The process of personal hearings commenced on December 27 and on the same day, TMC submitted a memorandum objecting the issued notices.

According to a report by The Indian Express, a senior Election Commission officer said, "The hearing process will not stop. It will continue as it has been. For those who have already received notices, their hearings will be disposed of once they appear. For those who have not received notices, they will not get them now."

TMC on Sunday criticised the EC for asking elderly, disabled and ailing citizens to attend hearings at camps.

According to a report by The Hindu, Trinamool MP Partha Bhowmik said, "This is nothing short of torture. The EC sends polling personnel to the residences of elderly persons [during elections] due to mobility issues. Why could they not follow the same procedure this time?"

TMC leader Sashi Panja asked, "Why senior citizens and PwDs were being 'forcibly dragged' for physical attendance at SIR hearings, when during the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the EC itself had enabled home voting for voters above 85 and PwDs with 40 per cent benchmark disability?"