Kolkata, Feb 6 (IANS) Around 1.6 per cent of the identified “unmapped” voters did not turn up for hearings with supporting identity documents certifying the legitimacy of their voting rights and, hence, had been identified by the electoral registration officers (EROs) as eligible for deletion from the final voters’ list.

The total number of “unmapped” voters who were summoned for hearings stood at 31,68,426. Out of them, a little over 50,000 (1.57 per cent of the total unmapped voters) did not turn up for the hearing despite being served with repeated notices and hence had been identified by the EROs as eligible for deletion in the final voters’ list, said sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal.

“The hearing sessions for the ‘unmapped’ voters have been completed, and currently, the hearings for ‘logical discrepancy’ cases are going on. It is now final that 1.57 per cent of the ‘unmapped’ voters are heading for deletion from the final voters’ list. Now it is to be seen how many of the “logical discrepancy” cases are identified for deletion in the final voters’ list,” said sources in the CEO’s office.

Unmapped voters are those who were unable to establish any link with the 2002 voters’ list either through “self-mapping” or through “progeny mapping”.

On the other hand, “logical discrepancy” cases are those in which unusual family-tree data were detected during “progeny” mapping.

The total number of voters identified as “logical discrepancy” cases and summoned for hearing stands at 94,49,132. The hearing for them is currently on, and the Election Commission of India is confident of completing their hearing processes within the scheduled deadline of February 7.

To recall, when the draft voters’ list in West Bengal was published in December last year, it witnessed a deletion of 58,20,899 voters who were identified as deceased or shifted, or duplicate voters.

Now, when the final voters’ list is published on February 14, the exact and final number of deleted voters will be clear.

After the publication of the final voters’ list, the full bench of the ECI will visit West Bengal and assess the situation. After that, the Commission will announce the polling dates for the crucial Assembly elections in West Bengal scheduled later this year.

–IANS

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