West Bengal voters: over 22L dropped, 19 tribunals under SC
India
Over 22 lakh people in West Bengal found themselves unexpectedly dropped from the voter list after a recent revision flagged "logical discrepancies."
Now, these voters are appealing to get back on the rolls, with their cases being heard by 19 Appellate Tribunals set up by order of the Supreme Court.
Backlog 37.05L, EC may expand tribunals
So far, 1,26,194 appeals have been sorted out, leaving a huge backlog of over 37.05 lakh pending appeals.
With local elections coming up, the Election Commission is considering increasing the number of tribunals to correspond with the number of parliamentary constituencies in the State.
The case is scheduled for hearing on September 22; meanwhile, the EC agreed with the petitioners' suggestion to open up the tribunals to video conferencing.