'There is no confrontation with state govt': CEC Gyanesh Kumar on SIR in Bengal

'There is no confrontation with state govt': CEC Gyanesh Kumar on SIR in Bengal

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Monday said that there is no confrontation between the Election Commission and the state government in West Bengal.

"The Commission is doing its duty, and the state government will discharge its duties. States are bound to provide the necessary personnel to the Election Commission for preparation of electoral rolls and conduct of polls," he said while announcing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the launch of a pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, beginning with 12 states and union territories.

Kumar explained that enumeration forms will be pre-filled with details already available from previous voter lists, including information gathered during earlier SIR exercises.

He further said that training for polling officials participating in Phase II of the SIR will begin on Tuesday. “The SIR will ensure that no eligible elector is left out and no ineligible elector is included in the rolls,” the CEC said.

Kumar also informed that the voter lists of all states included in the SIR will be frozen at midnight. Following this, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will distribute Unique Enumeration Forms containing voter details from the existing rolls.

Explaining the verification process, Kumar said, “All those whose names appear on the Enumeration Forms will verify whether their names were on the 2003 voter list. If they were, no additional documents will be required. Even if only the names of their parents appear, they won’t need to submit further documents.”

The voter lists from 2002 to 2004 will be available for public viewing on voters.eci.gov.in, allowing citizens to verify their records independently, he added.