Names of 70,000 ghost voters to be deleted

Statesman News Service

MALDA. Feb. 8. — Over 70,000 ghost voters will be deleted from the electoral rolls of Malda district after the final calculation of the second phase of electoral roll revision under the supervision of Election Commission observer Mr Manoj Singh till yesterday, officials said today.The observer has also instructed district election officials to seek information about the presence of suspected Bangladeshi voters’ names on Indian electoral rolls through the Bangladesh High Commission, an official said.“Mr Singh has admitted the problem of detecting names of Bangladeshi voters and deleting them from electoral rolls in Malda,” a district election official claimed.“Without a complaint how can we delete their names?” Malda officials had raised the question.The observer had yesterday expressed his unhappiness with a case of an alleged Bangladeshi national, Mr Ananda Sarkar, who is also a BJP gram panchayat member, after going through an enquiry report made by the Gazole BDO.According to the report of the Gazole BDO: “Ananda is an Indian citizen”.But after examining documents placed by the Malda Congress claiming: “Mr Ananda Sarkar is a sitting union board member in Bangladesh,” the observer has requested district election officials to seek information about the man through the Bangladesh High Commission before come to a final conclusion.“There should be a benchmark on how to detect names of Bangladeshis and delete them from the rolls,” the observer reportedly commented.Officials said they would need specific guidance from the EC to detect Bangladeshis.Official sources said the 19 observers would inform the EC about the present situation and problems encountered in deleting names of illegal voters.On 10 February, the EC will hold a meeting in order to chalk out a new plan and strategy after interacting with the observers who have returned to Delhi from this state, officials said.Mr Monoj Singh left for Delhi yesterday evening.