Election campaigning is in full swing in West Bengal and only a few days are left for the first phase of voting. The work of SIR is going on in the state. There is controversy regarding the voter list before voting. But meanwhile, election officials said that before the state assembly elections, about 7 lakh new voters have been added to the voter list of West Bengal. However, the Election Commission has not yet provided information on the age or gender of these additional voters.
A senior official of the election body said on Saturday that out of these new voters, about 3.22 lakh voters will cast their votes in the first phase (April 23), while the remaining 3.88 lakh voters will exercise their franchise in the second phase (April 29).
However, it was not clarified by the Commission as to how many of these newly added voters are those who are going to vote for the first time and who have just turned 18 years of age. Also, the Commission has not given detailed information on the basis of gender of these voters.
Besides, the Election Commission also did not tell how many people filled 'Form-6' and received applications to get their names included in the voter list. How many of these applications were rejected? A senior Election Commission official said, "The aggregate data has been released as per the rules. The detailed data is kept separately and can be shared later if needed."
Before voting in Bengal, the Election Commission said that the total number of voters in the state has now reached 6,82,51,008. If more names are added after the tribunal's orders, this number may increase further.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has ordered to include 27 lakh approved names in the voter list through the tribunal hearing, but allegations are being made that the tribunals are not working. And people are being sent back saying that the documents are still being verified.
