Kolkata, Jan 19 (IANS) Amid allegations that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been indiscriminately issuing notices for hearings on claims and objections to the draft electoral roll in West Bengal, the Commission has explained why the number of cases flagged as “logical discrepancies” in the state is unusually high.

The ECI has identified around 94 lakh “logical discrepancy” cases in West Bengal. Such cases refer to anomalies detected during progeny mapping, where implausible or inconsistent family relationships appear in voter records.

Officials in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, cited several examples to illustrate how fake voters attempted to retain their names on the electoral roll by falsely linking themselves to unrelated genuine voters.

“There have been cases where eight to ten voters were shown as sons or daughters of a single senior citizen voter during progeny mapping. However, during hearings, it was found that the senior citizen had only two children and had no blood relationship with most of those listed as his sons or daughters,” said an official from the CEO’s office.

According to officials, such manipulation was aimed at ensuring that fake voters remained on the rolls by presenting themselves as siblings within a fabricated family structure linked to a genuine voter.

In another instance, the Commission came across a case involving a 64-year-old senior citizen voter who was shown as having two sons aged 60 and 59.

“This would mean the voter became a father at the age of five,” the official said. Subsequent verification revealed that both individuals listed as his sons were fake voters who had falsely linked themselves to the genuine voter to avoid deletion from the electoral roll.

Officials acknowledged that the Commission has faced criticism from some political parties for summoning voters — particularly senior citizens — for hearings, triggering protests in parts of the state.

“However, such criticism cannot compel the Commission to ignore glaring discrepancies,” the official said. “The objective is to ensure that not a single genuine voter is excluded, while also ensuring that no forged or fake voter remains on the electoral roll.”

The deadline for submission of claims and objections to the draft voters’ list expires on Monday. Hearing sessions will continue until February 7, and the final voters’ list will be published on February 14.

Shortly thereafter, the ECI is expected to announce polling dates for the crucial West Bengal Assembly elections scheduled later this year.

–IANS

src/skp