West Bengal Elections: ECI to Release Initial Supplementary Judicial Adjudication List Today
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Kolkata, March 23 (NationPress) The initial supplementary list regarding the judicial adjudication of voters identified in the “logical discrepancy category” is set to be published later today.
According to data from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, as of Sunday night, the adjudication process has concluded for 28,06,000 cases. All these cases will be categorized into “approved” and “rejected” in the first supplementary list.
An official from the CEO’s office revealed that approximately 34% of completed adjudication cases were deemed excludable. Voters identified as excludable will have the opportunity to appeal their status in 19 Appellate Tribunals specifically established for this purpose.
To recap, the final voters' list for West Bengal, excluding around 60 lakh names pending judicial adjudication, was released on February 28. As mandated by the Supreme Court, supplementary lists will be issued periodically based on the adjudication progress, with the first being available today.
The list will be distributed to district magistrates and district election officers by this afternoon. Voters can access the supplementary list online via the Election Commission of India (ECI) website starting this evening. The additional list will also be posted at polling booths, BDO, SDO, and DM offices.
In preparation, the state police, following ECI guidelines, has implemented extensive security measures to mitigate potential unrest or violence stemming from the publication of this supplementary list.
A security-focused meeting occurred on Sunday at the CEO's office. CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal convened with the Joint Force Deployment Committee to discuss the deployment of Central forces for the upcoming Assembly elections.
Insiders from the CEO's office shared that plans were formulated regarding the quantity and locations for force personnel deployment, as well as their operational strategies. Attendees included state police nodal officer Anand Kumar, special police observer N.K. Mishra, and central force nodal officers Shalav Mathur and Gaurav Sharma.
Meanwhile, the ECI leadership at the Commission's headquarters in New Delhi will conduct a high-level virtual meeting this afternoon with district magistrates, district police superintendents, and police commissioners.
The polling for the West Bengal Assembly elections is scheduled for two phases on April 23 and April 29, covering 152 constituencies in the first phase and the remaining 142 constituencies in the second phase.