58 Lakh SIR Deletions Accounted For, Bengal's Top Poll Officer Tells NDTV

West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal, who is in charge of conducting the upcoming state elections, has said that he stands by the 58 lakh deletions during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Asserting that no violence will be tolerated during the electoral process, he shared a detailed plan of security arrangements while speaking with NDTV.

Elections will be held in two phases here, on April 23 and 29.

SIR Process, BLO Deaths

The SIR had been a contentious issue in Bengal, with allegations that voters belonging to a specific community had been targeted. Agarwal said the deletions were based on the enumeration exercise in cases where the enumeration forms could not be returned due to the voters being absent, dead, shifted, or duplicates.

This brought down the number of voters from 7.66 crore to 7.08 crore, removing 58 lakh names. "These 58 lakh cases have been properly accounted for," he added.

Read: No Supreme Court Relief For Bengal Voters Deleted In SIR Process

Agarwal stressed that his role was only supervising the process, and he had done his job with full neutrality. "I will not take responsibility in that sense. I have done my work with neutrality. I take full responsibility for the 58 lakh deletions. The CEO cannot add or delete a single name as per the law. The CEO is a second appellate authority. My role was supervision and monitoring," he added.

After that, around five lakh votes were deleted by the Election Registration Officers (EROs) and the rest were sent to judicial authorities, he said, adding, "The total cases became 60 lakh, out of which 27 lakh were rejected. The appeals are ongoing."

On deaths of booth-level officers, he said the Commission has not received any report establishing that poll officials had died due to SIR workload. Until documents linking BLO deaths and SIR are submitted, be it post-mortem reports or police reports, compensation cannot be processed, the senior official stressed.

Big Reshuffle, Politics Charge

The transfers of top officers in the state weeks ahead of elections had been another bone of contention between the Trinamool and the EC.

Agarwal said the Commission had been sending out proposals for the transfers for six months, but the state didn't answer satisfactorily. He recalled that the consent came only a few days before the election was notified and that some took charge after the announcement.

Read: 90 Lakh Voters Out of Bengal Lists, Trinamool Thinks Emergency Counter Strategy

"The decision was taken by Commission," the CEO said, adding that in his view, an opportunity has been given to those officers who had not held top positions like that of the DM.

On IPS officers being deputed outside the state, he emphasised there is no restriction on officers going as observers from another cadre.

'Elections To Be Violence-Free'

The Commission is making every effort to ensure a violence-free electoral process in Bengal, Agarwal said, pointing out that it has appointed an observer in all 294 constituencies. Besides, there are 84 police observers, the top polling officer of West Bengal said, urging people to cast their votes without fear.

He stressed that there has been no death due to violence during the campaigning so far, and that injuries have reduced by 80%.

Read: "Don't Dare": Supreme Court Fumes As Bengal, Poll Body Spar Over Voter List

"We are monitoring everything. The observers and I have met all police station in-charges, SDPOs, and senior officers. Duties have been clearly defined. Every officer will be accountable. No one will be protected in case of failure," Agarwal added.

He also termed the Malda incident, in which judicial officers were gheraoed for hours by a mob, a law-and-order issue and not related to the upcoming elections. "It is under judicial process. Arrests have been made. I do not see such violence in elections," he added.

Election Preparations

In a first instance, Agarwal said that two cameras are being installed in some special cases to ensure a 360-degree view within booths.

"Security personnel deployed at the entrance of the polling station must monitor inside the booth. They should be well-trained about various aspects that can vitiate the election. In case of irregularities, that person will inform his seniors, sector officers, and his boss, and will be able to intervene," he added.

Besides, the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) will reach the booths a day in advance and will be in full charge of the premises, he said.

"They will be 100% responsible for ensuring the safety of polling personnel. They will have to ensure the security of polling personnel and that of webcasting equipment. Within the booth boundary, they will have full jurisdiction," he added.