West Bengal Gears Up for Special Intensive Revision of Voter Lists After Durga Puja
Kolkata is buzzing with preparations for a major update to the state’s electoral rolls. West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, has kicked off the printing of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) application forms. This move has sparked talks that the full voter list revision might happen right after the Durga Puja celebrations.
On Tuesday, Agarwal started training sessions for key election officers across the state. Around 4,000 officials joined in, including Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), Additional District Magistrates (ADMs), and even some District Magistrates (DMs). The goal? To get everyone ready for the SIR process in West Bengal.
The real push comes next: the remaining 75,000 booth-level officers (BLOs) will get their training before Durga Puja. EROs and AEROs will handle these sessions for the BLOs, and the Chief Electoral Officer’s office wants it all wrapped up by September 21-22. This ensures the team stays sharp for the voter list revision exercise.
Sources from the CEO’s office reveal a massive printing plan. They’ll produce twice as many forms as the total number of voters in West Bengal—about 15 crore forms in all, since the state currently has 7.65 crore registered voters. Printing this many from one spot isn’t practical, so the office has asked districts to step up and share their printing capabilities. If any district can’t manage, Kolkata will handle it and ship the forms out.
Remember Bihar’s recent effort? They printed everything from a single location, and it dragged on forever. West Bengal aims to avoid that headache by spreading the work across districts. This should speed things up and make the Special Intensive Revision smoother.
The timing feels political too. The BJP has long pushed for this SIR of West Bengal electoral rolls, claiming the current lists include illegal voters like Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. But the ruling Trinamool Congress isn’t on board. Party chief Mamata Banerjee has warned of a massive protest if the revision deletes names of genuine citizens from the voter lists.
As West Bengal voter list update plans take shape, eyes are on how this plays out post-Durga Puja. Stay tuned for more on the SIR exercise and election preparations.
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