West Bengal: DMs asked to take precautions during publication of supplementary voter list

KOLKATA: (Mar 22) The West Bengal government has directed all the district magistrates to take precautionary measures for maintaining law and order during the publication of the supplementary electoral rolls on March 23.

A senior official said a communication issued by the Home and Hill Affairs Department from the state secretariat on Saturday called for appropriate precautionary steps as the supplementary rolls are expected to be published on Monday evening.

"In view of the above, I am directed to request you that appropriate precautionary steps from your end may be taken for control of crowd at possible places of gathering, strict vigil be exercised at vulnerable points, and other measures be taken towards maintenance of law and order," the letter to the district magistrates stated.

The directive has been issued by the senior special secretary to the state government.

The official further asked the district authorities to ensure that necessary infrastructure support is arranged and that police are kept informed.

"I am further directed to request you that respective Superintendents of Police/Commissioners of Police be also informed accordingly," the letter added.

Copies of the letter have been forwarded to the director general of police, the inspector general of police and and the commissioner of Kolkata Police for necessary action.

The first supplementary voter list in West Bengal is likely to be published on March 23, an Election Commission (EC) official said earlier.

The EC official said preparations are underway to display the updated voter list across nearly 80,000 polling booths in the state once it is finalised by Monday.

The publication of the supplementary list assumes significance as it is likely to include the names of voters whose applications were marked as "under adjudication" after the final electoral roll was published on February 28.

According to the poll official, more than 60 lakh names were initially marked as "under adjudication", of which more than 27 lakh cases were disposed of till Friday afternoon.

West Bengal will go to polls in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with the counting of votes set to take place on May 4.