Kolkata, April 1 -- The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday night released the 7th supplementary voter list. Sources within the Commission revealed that over 10 lakh names are yet to be adjudicated, leaving a significant number of voters in limbo ahead of the Assembly elections.
The updated list comes amid heightened scrutiny over the voter rolls in the state, with political parties closely monitoring deletions and additions.
Earlier in the day, the EC refuted Mahua Moitra's claim of Form 6 manipulation. Moitra accused the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal of planning to selectively push a certain number of Form 6 applications per Assembly Constituency through the system backend, with automatic approvals via ERO login.
The CEO's office, however, refuted the allegations, stating that Moitra appeared to be "shooting in the dark" and making "false and institutionalised" claims against the office of the CEO, West Bengal. State CEO Manoj Agarwal said only those Form 6 applications submitted till March 27 would be considered for inclusion in the electoral roll. Applications submitted after that date will not be reflected in the voter list.
"No voter list will be updated after April 6, so only those voters whose names figure in the list up to April 6 will be able to cast their votes. Changes can be made only if there is any direction from the judiciary," a senior official said.
Meanwhile, Moitra alleged in a post on X that names from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh could be pushed into the rolls. She questioned the role of the CEO in processing Form 6 applications, stating that appeals cannot be made through Form 6.
She further claimed that Form 6 can only be submitted by voters, either online or offline, or in bulk by BLA2 (Booth Level Agents) to BLOs, with a cap of 50 applications per BLA2. She also said that appeals lie before tribunals headed by judges deputed by the Calcutta High Court,
not the CEO.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.