Electoral Roll Revision Faces Hurdles in 40 Bengal Constituencies
The Chief Electoral Office of West Bengal has raised serious concerns about the sluggish pace of enumeration form distribution in 40 Assembly constituencies across the state. This development comes as the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls enters its tenth day of operation.
Despite achieving an impressive statewide average of 88.8% form distribution, these specific constituencies have significantly lagged behind, recording distribution rates below 75%. The Election Commission official confirmed that an estimated 7.27 crore enumeration forms, representing 94.91% of the target, had been distributed across West Bengal until Thursday afternoon.
Constituencies Facing Distribution Challenges
The affected constituencies span various regions of West Bengal, indicating a widespread rather than localized issue. Notable areas experiencing slower form distribution include Siliguri, Kaliaganj, Raiganj, and Tapan in North Bengal, along with Alipurduar and Dubrajpur.
In the southern and central parts of the state, the list includes Siuri, Kharagpur Sadar, and several urban and semi-urban constituencies such as Jagaddal, Naihati, Khardaha, Panihati, and the Rajarhat areas. The Kolkata metropolitan region also shows several constituencies among the laggards, including Bidhannagar, Bally, Howrah Uttar, Howrah Dakshin, and multiple Behala and Sonarpur segments.
Other concerning areas comprise Kasba, Jadavpur, Tollygunge, Maheshtala, Metiaburuz, Kolkata Port, and central Kolkata constituencies like Beleghata, Jorasanko, and Kashipur Belgachia. The complete list reflects a diverse geographical spread affecting both urban and rural voting districts.
Commission's Response and Legal Warnings
Despite the current challenges, the Chief Electoral Office remains optimistic about completing the first phase of form distribution by next Thursday. Election officials are implementing measures to accelerate the process in the affected constituencies to meet this deadline.
The Election Commission has issued a stern warning regarding electoral malpractice, explicitly stating that filling up enumeration forms in two different locations will be treated as a criminal offence. This strict stance aims to maintain the integrity of the electoral revision process and prevent duplicate registrations.
The Special Intensive Revision program, now in its tenth day, represents a crucial effort to update and verify voter lists ahead of upcoming elections. The high overall distribution percentage of 94.91% demonstrates significant progress across most of the state, making the performance gap in the 40 identified constituencies particularly noteworthy.
Election authorities are closely monitoring the situation and are expected to deploy additional resources to the struggling constituencies to ensure they catch up with the statewide distribution average. The success of this intervention will be critical for ensuring comprehensive voter registration across all regions of West Bengal.
