More than 2.23 lakh voters in the Kolkata and Howrah municipal areas may be unable to vote in the proposed municipal elections because their applications for restoration of names in the electoral rolls have not yet been heard by tribunals, Sangbad Pratidin – Kolkata reported.
The report said 223,587 applicants whose names were removed from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process had approached tribunals before the Assembly elections, following directions from the Supreme Court. However, six months after filing their applications, none of the applicants had reportedly received a summons from the Joka tribunal court.
The unresolved applications have left the applicants’ voting rights uncertain ahead of the municipal elections proposed for the end of November. The issue affects voters in both Kolkata and Howrah, as well as applicants in 11 other municipalities where elections are expected to be held, according to the report.
The Election Commission has said that nine tribunals operating in Joka examined applications from 5,485 voters in the two municipal areas during the past six months and restored their voting rights. That amounts to a disposal rate of 2.68%, the report said. Joka is currently the only location in the state where these tribunals are functioning.
The Commission also told the Supreme Court on Monday that completing all applications could take another 12 years if the number of tribunals is not increased. The statement underlines the administrative backlog facing the mechanism created to examine claims by people excluded from the electoral rolls.
The delay comes as preparations for the proposed municipal elections advance. The state government has reportedly completed most of the ward delimitation and women’s reservation process, with Kolkata set to have 209 wards and Howrah 68 wards. The electoral-roll disputes, however, leave affected residents uncertain about whether they will be able to participate in the elections even if the municipal preparations are completed.
The report said that, as of Tuesday, no applicant from the Bhabanipur, Port, Rashbehari or Ballygunge Assembly constituencies had been summoned by the tribunal. Residents from these constituencies who filed applications with legal assistance are therefore still waiting to learn whether their names will be restored before the municipal polls.
The delay has also begun to acquire a political dimension. Left parties, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress and the Kalighat Trinamool Congress are preparing to approach the high court seeking restoration of voting rights before the municipal elections. Pradesh Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar alleged that the state government was not increasing the number of tribunals despite the Supreme Court’s direction. Kalighat Trinamool Congress representative Baishwanar Chattopadhyay made a similar allegation, saying that the state government was responsible for expanding the tribunal system.
Both leaders also made political claims about how the affected voters might vote, but those claims were not independently established in the report. The immediate administrative question remains whether the tribunal system can process the pending applications before the proposed municipal election schedule takes effect.
