Will ensure WB electoral rolls are error free: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Friday said all efforts will be made to keep the electoral rolls in West Bengal flawless for the polls due next year.

"Updation of the electoral rolls is an ongoing process. We have been working for this for the last two to three months. We had sent senior IAS-level officers as observers to the state on two visits... they will make another visit," Quraishi told mediapersons in Kolkata.

On the reported 56 lakh new voters in the state, he said eligible voters will be included and names of non-eligible ones will be struck off as 'our aim is to produce a healthy electoral roll.'

Asked about the possibility of advancing the assembly poll in West Bengal, Quraishi said as per the Constitutional provisions, elections in the state were due on June 11, next year.

"The Constitution gives us the power on holding assembly elections six months before the due date which is December 11, this year. Therefore, it is only after December 12 that we can decide about the best date for holding the election," he said.

He dismissed as 'premature and ill-thought' talks of early election in the state as the EC does not yet have any power to decide on that before December 12.

Regretting that political parties were often 'painted in the black,' he said, "The role of the political parties over the past 60 years should not be undermined. Cynical comments about political parties do not help democracy. Without them there can be no democracy."

Quraishi also praised the country's bureaucracy, saying they efficiently manage the world's largest electoral exercise.