5 N Kol seats show large number of Muslim names on ‘logical discrepancy’ list

Kolkata: A study of the EC's SIR of electoral rolls found that Muslim voters formed a disproportionately large share of those flagged under the "logical discrepancy" (LD) category in some of the politically significant assembly constituencies in Kolkata North.Around 71.7% of voters in the category in Chowringhee are Muslims, whereas the Muslim population share there is around 40%. Likewise, 72.3% of such voters on LD list are Muslims in Entally. The estimated Muslim population share there, as per the 2011 census, is also around 40. Around 67.8% of LD voters are Muslims in Beleghata, whereas the estimated Muslim population percentage is 25. In Jorasanko and Cossipore-Belgachhia assembly constituencies, around 56% of such voters on the LD list are Muslims. The estimated Muslim population share in these assemblies, as per the 2011 census, is 20.The figures, mentioned in a study by Sabar Institute, indicate a pattern across all the assembly constituencies where the percentage of Muslims on the ‘logical discrepancy' list is significantly higher than their population share.In Chowringhee, out of 17,545 voters flagged under "logical discrepancy", 12,579 are Muslims. In Entally, 18,760 out of 25,957 voters whose enumeration forms were flagged under LD category are Muslims. A similar trend emerges in Beleghata, where 15,387 out of 22,711 voters in the same category are from the minority community. At Jorasanko, 8,559 out of 15,307 voters under ‘logical discrepancy' category are Muslims."In Chowringhee, Muslims constitute 71.7% of those flagged under logical discrepancy list, while 35.9% of deletions in the ‘absent, shifted, dead/duplicate' (ASD) list are Muslims. The deletions due to ASD broadly match the Muslim population share in Chowringhee, which is 40% as per the 2011 census. In Jorasanko, Muslims accounted for 22.4% of voters marked as ASD, which broadly matches the Muslim share of the population. As per 2011 census, 20% of voters are Muslims in Jorasanko. But this changes sharply in LD list, where 56% are Muslims," said researcher Ashin Chakraborty, who, along with Souptik Halder and Sabir Ahamed, conducted the study.In Beleghata and Entally, around 28% and 37% of voters marked as ASD, respectively, were Muslims, broadly matching the share of Muslim population of 25% and 40%, respectively. "But percentage of Muslims on LD list in Entally (72.3%) and Beleghata (67.8%) is significantly higher than their population share. In Cossipore-Belgachhia, too, there is a disproportionately higher representation of Muslims on the LD list at 56% when the population share of Muslims as per the 2011 census is 20%. These disparities were not observed in earlier lists of unmapped and ASD where objective reasons for exclusion were shown," said Halder.Ahamed said, "Careful analysis of the list clearly indicates that minorities are being targeted. Now they need to collect a wide range of papers, and hence it is like NRC in disguise."