Kolkata, April 28 (IANS) With the Election Commission of India (ECI) having published the second supplementary list of voters in West Bengal disposed of through the Appellate Tribunals judging the 27 lakh cases found excludable in the earlier judicial adjudication process on Tuesday morning, that is just a day before the second phase of the crucial two-phase Assembly elections in the state, only 1,468 names were cleared.
At the same time, in the second supplementary list, six names, which were cleared by the judicial officers in the course of the judicial adjudication process, had been rejected by the Appellate Tribunals.
To recall, in the first supplementary list of the Appellate Tribunals, which was published on April 22, that is a day before the first phase of West Bengal polls on April 23, only 136 names were cleared and two names were deleted.
As per the direction of the Supreme Court, the 1,468 voters whose names had been cleared in the first supplementary list will be able to cast their votes in the second phase on Wednesday.
To recall, after the final voters list in West Bengal was published on February 28 this year, a little over 60 lakh names were referred for judicial adjudication, which was conducted by as many as 732 judicial officers, including 100 each from neighbouring Jharkhand and Odisha.
At the end of the judicial adjudication, as many as 27 lakh names of the 60 lakh names referred for judicial adjudication were found excludable.
Thereafter, as per the directions of the Supreme Court, these 27 lakh cases were referred to the Appellate Tribunals. The apex court also ordered that the names cleared by the Appellate Tribunals, even a day before the polling day, would be allowed to cast their votes.
A total of 142 Assembly constituencies scattered over six districts and the state capital of Kolkata will be going for polls on Wednesday. The results will be declared on May 4.
–IANS
src/rad
