Kolkata, Feb 28 (IANS) The final voters’ list in West Bengal, prepared as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), was published on Saturday, with the total number of deleted voters standing at 61,78,245.

The figure is likely to increase further, as identity documents of around 60 lakh voters are currently under judicial adjudication by judicial officers appointed by the Election Commission of India (ECI), following directions of the Supreme Court.

Announcing this at a press conference on Saturday afternoon, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, said the total number of “approved” voters in the final list stands at 7,04,59,284.

“When the SIR began in November last year, the total number of voters was 7,66,37,529. The number was reduced to 7,08,16,630. Now, in the final voters’ list, the total number of ‘approved’ voters stands at 7,04,59,284. This means that a total of 61,78,245 voters have already been deleted in the process,” Agarwal said.

The CEO added that if anyone has any objection regarding deletion of a name, the concerned voter may first apply to the respective District Electoral Officer (DEO) and subsequently to the CEO. “The application in this regard will have to be made within the next 14 days as per the rules,” Agarwal said.

Several political parties in West Bengal, especially the ruling Trinamool Congress, have raised questions over alleged procedural flaws in the SIR exercise. On Saturday, while detailing the final voters’ list, the CEO admitted that there had been some errors during the process.

“However, these mistakes are minor considering the enormity of the exercise. Wherever there was a mistake, the ECI has taken action,” Agarwal said.

He said that despite publication of the final voters’ list, judicial adjudication of voter documents referred to ECI-appointed judicial officers will continue. “Currently, a total of 501 judicial officers are engaged in the adjudication process. A supplementary list will be published in due course depending on the progress of the judicial adjudication,” the CEO said.

The final voters’ list published on Saturday comprises three categories — “approved”, “under adjudication” and “deleted”.

The list can be accessed on the official websites of the ECI and the CEO, West Bengal. It can also be verified offline by contacting the booth-level officer (BLO) concerned or by visiting the respective polling station, where hard copies of the list have been displayed.

–IANS

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