Update: Duplication of Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha’s Name Was Procedural, Says Sribhumi District Election Officer
The Office of the District Election Officer, Sribhumi, on Wednesday (February 11) issued a public clarification regarding the appearance of North Karimganj MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha’s name in the electoral rolls of both Sribhumi and Cachar following the Special Revision, calling it “temporary”.
According to the clarification, Purkayastha had applied for the shifting of his electoral registration from 123–Karimganj North LAC to 116–Katigorah LAC through Form-8 on January 16, 2026. The Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) of Katigorah accepted the Form-8 on January 29, 2026.
Upon acceptance of the shifting application, an auto-generated Form-7 for deletion from the previous constituency was created through the ERONET system and assigned to the ERO of Karimganj North on January 29, 2026. However, the clarification stated that, as per procedure, a minimum period of seven days is required for processing such claims or objections.
The clarification further stated that the last date for processing forms during the revision period was February 4, 2026, after which the ERONET system was frozen as per schedule. Due to this statutory timeline and system constraints, the Form-7 deletion could not be processed before the freeze.
As a result, during the intervening period, Purkayastha’s name appeared in the electoral rolls of both Katigorah and Karimganj North, though with the same EPIC number. Officials described this as a transitional procedural stage arising out of the shifting process.
The District Election Officer stated that after ERONET was unfrozen on February 11, 2026, the auto-generated Form-7 was duly processed and accepted, and his name has now been deleted from the electoral roll of 123–Karimganj North LAC in accordance with the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
The clarification added that the entire process was carried out strictly as per prescribed rules and system-based procedures, and that the temporary duplication was procedural in nature.
While officials have termed the duplication a procedural transition arising from statutory timelines, questions remain regarding the timing of acceptance of the shifting application and whether it could have been processed before the system freeze deadline of February 4.
However, it remains to be seen whether a revised Final Electoral Roll will be published after going through the remaining claims or not.
Comments are closed.