Amid SIR drive in Bengal, EC officials stumble upon a voter listed in Bangladesh
New Delhi: As the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise nears completion in West Bengal, a Bangladeshi national has been found on the draft voter list, sources in election commission said. It has also been learnt that the woman in question had voted in Bangladesh also.
The voter named Monju Rani Saha, has featured on the draft voter list in Bengal under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). She possesses both Indian voter ID card and Aadhaar card. Accordingly, her name was included in the draft list. However, when micro-observers reviewed the list after its publication, they were astonished by the discovery.
Monju Rani Saha was also found on the Bangladeshi voter list.
She is a voter in Barasat of North 24 Parganas district. According to her Indian Aadhaar card, her address is Rishi Bankim Sarani in Barasat’s Hridaypur.
However, her address in the Bangladeshi voter list is Narayanganj Sadar in Narayanganj District. It was learnt that she voted at Narayanganj Girls’ School.
An investigation is underway to determine how her name ended up on the Indian voter list.
If the charges are proved against her, the name of the woman could be removed from the final SIR list, which will be published later this month.
According to Election Commission’s guidelines, Saturday was the last day for SIR hearings. A request has been made to extend this period, but the Election Commission has not yet announced any decision on the matter as the matter in listed in Supreme Court on Monday, for hearing regarding SIR-related matters.
Yesterday, West Bengal government informed the Election Commission that it can provide 8,505 Group-B officers for remainder of the Special Intensive Revision of the voter list in the state.
A letter has already been sent to ECI in this regard.