The Election Commission (EC) of India has found largescale irregularities in the electoral rolls of West Bengal. According to the Commission, comparing the national average with that of the state average, at least 75 lakh eligible voters are missing from the voters’ list.

The national average of voters stands at 67 per cent of the total population whereas in West Bengal it is only 58 per cent. “We are inquiring into the matter. Before the publication of the final voter list, which is due in three months, we hope to sort out the matter,” said Debashish Sen, Chief Electoral Officer.

Currently, the state has around 5.04 crore voters’ but ideally the figure should be 5.90 lakh.

The state election office sources cited three reasons behind the shortfall. Firstly, a large population of infiltrators has been incorporated in the Census report but has not been enrolled as voters.

Secondly, there is a lack of awareness among the people in the state about their voting rights. A large number of people do not apply for voter identity cards.

Lastly, the ruling party is preventing the supporters of the Opposition from enrolling their names in the voters’ list.

“Initially, we are going to give importance to the lack of awareness among the people,” said Sen.

Officials, on the other hand, cite infiltration as the major cause for this discrepancy in the border districts. In some districts, where the infiltration is not well marked, the ruling party’s dominance could be a factor in preventing people from enrolling their names.

“The state registers 96 per cent turnout during the elections. How can we cite lack of awareness as a reason behind the low figure? In fact, West Bengal records one of the highest turnout of voters. Lack of awareness is not a crucial issue,” said an official.

The Opposition camp claims that it is the nine per cent shortfall, which is influencing the results, especially in cases where a 2 per cent difference settles the issue.

Leader of the Opposition Partha Chatterjee said that the party has made several appeals to the state election commission that in many places the names of our supporters have been struck off the electoral rolls.

The CPM-backed state co-ordination committee controls the electoral machinery, right up to the block level.

“For a fair election, a fair electoral roll is necessary. We have been saying this for years. The latest statistics only reconfirms our allegations,” said Chatterjee.