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Kolkata, Nov 13 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) has locked in its database the details of 43 lakh dead voters of West Bengal, whose names were present in the state’s voter list till October 27.
Sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal said that out of this figure of 43 lakh, the ECI has obtained details of about 34 lakh dead voters from the Aadhaar database.
Details of about 11 lakh deceased voters were obtained from the list of beneficiaries of various welfare schemes in West Bengal such as Widow Pension Schemes and Samobati Prakalpa, the latter of which is a state government financial assistance scheme that provides a one-time grant of Rs 2,000 to poor families to help cover the cost of performing the rites and rituals of the deceased.
Sources in the CEO office said the figure is set to increase further in the final voter list after detailed evaluation of the enumeration forms collected first in the draft voter list and then in the final voter list.
As of October 27, the total number of voters in West Bengal is 7,66,37,529. The first phase of the three-phase SIR in West Bengal, distribution of enumeration forms by booth-level officials, began on November 4 and the process is expected to be completed by Friday.
The entire SIR process is expected to be completed with the publication of the final voter list by March 2026, a few months before elections are held in West Bengal.
The last time SIR was conducted in West Bengal was in 2002. The 2002 electoral roll has been taken as the basis for the current and ongoing revision exercise.
Trinamool Congress had already filed a petition in the Calcutta High Court questioning why the 2002 voter list has been taken as the basis for the current revision process.
–IANS
source/svn