Names of Bangladeshi deleted from electoral rolls

Statesman News Service

MALDA, Feb. 6. — More than a dozen voters on Indian electoral rolls in the Malda district have been identified as Bangladeshi nationals and as a result, their names have been deleted from the electoral rolls, an official claimed today. Official sources said that there is a possibility that many more names of Bangladeshi nationals are present on the Indian voters’ list. These names will be deleted after an inquiry. A senior election official informed: “The exact number of voters deleted because they are Bangladeshis will be announced only after the final completion of the electoral roll revision.” Sources said that district officials are under pressure to furnish a satisfactory clarification on the issue of Bangladeshis and dead voters to facilitate the deletion of their names from the list. The EC observer for Malda, Mr Manoj Singh, had scrutinized all records of ration cards a few days before his departure from the district, during the second phase of electoral roll revision. It may be recalled that following the instruction of the EC observer, the district election officials removed three government employees from election-related duties after detection of irregularities in election work. The additional district magistrate, Mr BP Barat, had also reportedly issued some show cause notices to government employees, including the block development officer of the Habibpur block. Today, the BDO of Habibpur gave his clarification and confessed that he had hurriedly executed some electoral work and had forgotten to mention the absence from work of some employees of the block office. He has ensured that he will re-check all documents and take necessary steps against the employees found guilty of election irregularities. It may be recalled that many voters have been enrolled without verification of papers.