West Bengal Voter Mapping Progress Falls Short: Only 7 of 24 Districts Complete Task Ahead of Assembly Elections

Assembly elections in West Bengal are scheduled to take place next year.

Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti revealed on Wednesday that West Bengal district election officers (DEOs) have only completed the voter mapping process in seven out of 24 districts, despite Tuesday's deadline for completion.

Of these seven districts, data from merely three have been uploaded to the Election Commission's official website, according to Bharti.

With West Bengal's assembly elections approaching next year, the slow progress in voter mapping has prompted Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal to appoint an additional officer of CEO rank to coordinate with district magistrates and expedite the pending work. The CEO's office has also scheduled a video conference with all district officials on Wednesday to accelerate the process.

Sources indicate that a previously planned meeting with nodal officers has been postponed until month-end, though officials remain uncertain about completing the mapping exercise by that time.

Voter mapping involves verifying and mapping existing voter entries to their precise geographical locations, with the goal of eliminating dead voters, duplications, and voters who have relocated from constituencies. This crucial exercise precedes the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) rollout. Voters whose names are absent from the list will need to submit documents proving their identity and address.

The districts that have completed the mapping process include Jhargram (51.36%), Paschim Medinipur (62.94%), Kalimpong (65.27%), Alipurduar (53.73%), Purulia (61.29%), Kolkata North (55.35%), and Malda (54.49%).

Among these districts, only Jhargram, Paschim Medinipur, and Alipurduar have had their data uploaded to the Election Commission's website.

Progress has been particularly slow in districts neighboring Kolkata, specifically North and South 24 Parganas. Estimates indicate that mapping in North 24 Parganas is approximately 45-48% complete, while South 24 Parganas has achieved around 58% completion.

Officials attribute the delay to rapid urbanization and population growth in the suburbs over the past 23 years.

Sources note that many people have relocated from Kolkata to these districts, alongside significant migration from other states. In 2002, these districts had relatively low voter numbers, making it challenging to map current data based on historical records.

Limited progress was also observed in certain parts of the Kolkata Metropolitan Area, especially in Central and North Kolkata. Officials suspect illegal immigration may be contributing to mapping difficulties in Malda and both 24 Parganas districts.

In Jhargram, political conflicts over ration card distribution to the Sabar tribe and other tribal communities in 2002 resulted in many individuals being excluded from voter registration, contributing to its low mapping completion rate.

According to Election Commission sources, timely implementation of the commission's directives has become a significant challenge for the state CEO's office.