Cloud over 60.06 lakh voters: The many unanswered questions around West Bengal SIR

In the other states, apart from Uttar Pradesh, the final electoral rolls were published in February. The electors in those states, including poll-bound Tamil Nadu and Kerala, had clarity on whether they were on the rolls or not. The data on the number of names added and deleted was also shared by the respective state Chief Electoral Officers.

On February 20, the Supreme Court ordered the appointment of around 500 judicial officers to go through these “under adjudication” cases in West Bengal. As and when they dispose of the cases, supplementary lists of names are to be published.

Though the EC on Monday published the supplementary lists of those cases cleared by the judicial officers so far, there are still many unanswered questions. The EC is yet to respond to a request for comment from The Indian Express.

Here’s what the EC is yet to reveal and how this affects the electors in question:

1. How many electors have been cleared and deleted?

The PDFs of the first supplementary lists were uploaded by the EC on its ECINET portal and app on Monday night. The lists are in two separate documents. One is titled ‘Adjudication Supplementary List No. 1’ and the second is titled ‘Adjudication Deleted List No. 1’. Both these lists are available booth-wise. Neither the EC nor West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer’s office has revealed how many electors are included in the first supplementary list and how many have been deleted. With the data yet to be released, there is no clarity for political parties and candidates as to how many electors remain on the rolls.

2. How many electors are still under adjudication?

On Tuesday, the Trinamool Congress alleged that electors who had been cleared and were on the final electoral roll published on February 28 were now being shown as “under adjudication” on the ECINET portal.

“Yesterday, an alarming situation came to light. The Voter’s Services Portal of the Election Commission showed the entire electorate of Bengal as ‘Under Adjudication’. This triggered widespread panic, anxiety, and distress among the people. Although the issue was later resolved, it once again highlights the serious technical glitches and faulty software used by the Commission, a system that has also come under scrutiny from the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” the TMC said in a post on X on Wednesday.

The poll panel is yet to respond to the allegation or reveal how many electors remain under adjudication. With polling in West Bengal scheduled for April 23 and April 29, the electoral rolls will be frozen on the last day for nominations, April 6 and April 9, respectively.

This means that for an elector to be added back to the rolls, the appeal has to be ideally filed ten days before the last day of making nominations, that is, by March 27 and March 30, respectively. As electors await clarity on their status and for the next instalments of the supplementary lists to be published, time is running out for filing appeals.