22nd May | West Bengal
More than two months after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls began in West Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections, the process of hearing appeals against voter deletions continues to move at a slow pace.According to official data, 12 of the 19 tribunals set up following Supreme Court directions had disposed of only 6,581 appeals by mid-May, despite nearly 24.98 lakh appeals being filed by voters whose names were removed from the electoral rolls.The tribunals were constituted on March 20 after the Supreme Court intervened amid allegations of large-scale wrongful deletions during the revision exercise. Political parties and civil society organisations had raised concerns that genuine voters were being excluded from the rolls ahead of the elections.Of the appeals disposed of so far, nearly 4,000 voters have reportedly had their names restored to the electoral rolls. However, the disposal rate remains extremely low, accounting for just around 0.26 per cent of the total appeals filed. Kolkata North and Kolkata South together reportedly accounted for a significant share of the cases cleared till mid-May.The slow progress has triggered concerns among opposition parties and voter rights groups, who argue that lakhs of affected voters are still waiting for hearings while the election process advances. Reports earlier suggested that more than 27 lakh names had been deleted during the SIR exercise, resulting in public protests, long queues outside administrative offices and mounting anxiety among voters.The SIR exercise has emerged as one of the most contentious political issues in West Bengal in recent months, with the ruling party and opposition accusing each other of attempting to manipulate the electoral rolls. The Election Commission, however, has maintained that the revision was necessary to remove duplicate and ineligible entries and ensure cleaner voter lists.The Supreme Court had directed the formation of special tribunals and deployment of judicial officers to hear appeals and provide relief to voters who claimed they were wrongly excluded.Concerns over similar voter revision exercises are now surfacing in other states as well, with reports indicating that Karnataka may also approach the Supreme Court over fears of large-scale deletions in a proposed electoral roll revision process.
