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Kolkata, Oct 21 (IANS) The official notification for Special Intensive Review (SIR) in West Bengal is likely to be announced soon after Chief Election Commission Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s important meeting with Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all states in New Delhi this week, officials said on Tuesday.
The meeting with CEOs of all states, chaired by Kumar, will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, and the main agenda of the meeting will be SIR in the states, with the immediate focus on states like West Bengal, where assembly elections are due next year, said an insider in the office of the West Bengal CEO.
“Apart from CEOs of all states, some other top officials from CEO offices have also been asked to be present at the important two-day meeting this week,” he said.
SIR has already been completed in Bihar, where elections are due this year.
The Election Commission (EC) also made it clear that now the priority is those states where assembly elections are to be held next year.
The last time SIR was conducted in West Bengal was in 2002.
The process of “mapping and matching” the current voter list with the 2002 voter list is nearing completion, and representatives from the office of the West Bengal CEO are expected to give an update on the matter to the Election Commission in a two-day meeting this week.
West Bengal CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal last week clarified that existing voters whose names were in the voter list in 2002, when the last SIR was conducted in the state, will automatically be considered valid voters.
Those existing voters whose names are not in the 2002 voter list will have to submit any document as citizenship proof as mandated by the Election Commission.
However, in this case, Aadhaar card alone will not suffice, and the concerned voter will need one of the other documents mandated by the Election Commission.
The SIR will take place amid strong opposition from the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal.
–IANS
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