After Bihar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is likely to implement Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal from November 1, and all District Election Officers (DEOs) have been told to remain alert as work may start at any moment, sources told News18.
Sources said the SIR exercise may begin in the state at any time, and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bengal has communicated to all District Magistrates, stressing that preparations should start immediately and all pending work must be completed without delay.
The CEO of West Bengal communicated with all District Magistrates after a meeting with the ECI. From today onwards, the CEO’s office will remain open 24×7 and all personnel involved in SIR-related work must be present in the office, according to sources.
Each District Election Officer (DEO) and Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) has been instructed to set up a help desk in their offices for SIR-related matters. A multi-party meeting will be called the day after the official announcement of the SIR.
These meetings will be convened both at the state level by the CEO and at the district level by the respective District Magistrates. All discussions and decisions from these meetings must be reported to the Election Commission.
ECI sources said these directives have also been conveyed by the CEO to all District Magistrates in West Bengal.
Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had asserted that the Election Commission has already decided to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise throughout the country, which will be announced after talks.
“The Election Commission has already taken a decision to conduct a pan-India SIR in every state and Union Territories. It is a work in progress. The EC will decide on the dates and make a formal announcement," he said during a press conference earlier this month.
The SIR exercise in Bihar was conducted by the ECI before the upcoming Assembly elections, resulting in the deletion of 69 lakh voters from the voter list due to deaths, inclusion of illegal immigrants and duplicate Voter ID cards. The total number of voters in Bihar stood at 7.43 crore after the deletions.
There have been a series of bitter exchanges between the poll body and the Opposition parties, who argued that the EC’s exercise was aimed at “disenfranchising voters" in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections. The EC has refuted these arguments and said they were aimed at “purifying" the voter lists ahead of the high-stakes elections.
The Special Intensive Revision model implemented in Bihar is expected to be rolled out nationwide to standardise voter verification ahead of future elections, the Election Commission said.
