NEW DELHI: Nearly 23.6 lakh electors in West Bengal have declared themselves as one among at least six progeny of the same elector from the roll from last SIR undertaken in 2002, while the enumeration forms submitted by a whopping 85 lakh electors show a mismatch with father’s name. These electors with “logical discrepancies” in their filled-up enumeration forms — who total over 1.6 crore — shall be served a notice by the electoral registration officer (ERO) seeking an explanation regarding the discrepancy along with proof of their eligibility to be enrolled.Though the statewise share of Bengal electors who have declared them as progeny of a parent with more than six progeny, is nearly 3.1%, the corresponding percentage is much higher at 7.1% in Murshidabad and 6.8% in Uttar Dinajpur. Around 19.4 lakh electors have been associated with the logical discrepancy of being over 45 years of age and not having enrolled even once. Their overall share in the Bengal electorate is 2.5%, though Kalimpong has 5.4% such electors, and both Darjeeling and Kolkata South, 3.6%. Over 11% of electors have submitted enumeration forms with a ‘father name mismatch’. However, this share spikes to 19.9% in Kalimpong district, almost 16% in Malda, 14.9% in Uttar Dinajpur and 13.8% in Darjeeling. As many as 19.4 lakh, or 2.5% or the state’s electorate, have declared a gap of less than 15 years or more than 50 years between their and their parents’ age, also seen by the election authorities as a “logical discrepancy” meriting a notice. This average goes up to 6.3% in case of Kalimpong, which is close to the Nepal border even though not a border district. Nearly 2.5% of electors in Kalimpong have also declared grandparents less than 40 years older to them.Apart from the electors whose enumeration forms show the aforesaid ‘logical discrepancies”, nearly 28-30 lakh were found to be “unmapped” due to failure to specify their link with the roll from the last SIR in 2002. They will also be issued notices by the local ERO.
