Bengal voter list riddled with errors; EC orders detailed check

• West Bengal's first phase of Special Integrated Revision (SIR) exposed widespread inconsistencies in voter lists, leading the Election Commission to order detailed verification.
• Major discrepancies include incorrect father's names in over 85 lakh cases (11.09% of voters) and 24 lakh voters listed with more than six children.
• Unrealistic age gaps were found between voters and their parents (less than 15 or more than 50 years) in nearly 20 lakh cases.
• Over 20 lakh voters aged 45+ were incorrectly marked as 'new voters', and 13 lakh entries had incorrect gender data.
• The EC has digitized forms, will hold hearings for affected voters, and BLOs will conduct house-to-house verification, with public corrections allowed during 'Claims and Objections'.

Why It Matters: Widespread voter list errors in Bengal threaten election integrity.