EC probing glitch that marked all Bengal voters 'under adjudication': official
Kolkata (PTI): The Election Commission is examining the cause of a technical glitch that briefly showed all voters in West Bengal as "under adjudication", an official said on Wednesday.
The problem came to light on Tuesday night when voters attempting to access their details on the EC website using their EPIC numbers found their status marked as "under adjudication", even in cases where names were already included in the final electoral rolls.
"The issue was noticed on Tuesday night and was caused by a technical error, possibly related to the server or backend integration. It has since been rectified, and we are probing the cause behind it," the EC official said.
The glitch occurred less than 24 hours after the EC released the first supplementary list of voters around midnight on Monday.
"At one point, the system erroneously reflected that all electors in the state were under adjudication. This was not the case, and it was purely a display error," the official said.
The development prompted sharp reactions from the ruling TMC, which alleged that the error had effectively put the entire electorate under suspicion.
The party claimed on social media that even valid voters were being shown as "under adjudication" despite their cases being resolved or their names being present in the final rolls.
"We regret the inconvenience caused to voters. The technical teams acted swiftly, and the issue was resolved within approximately two hours," the official said.
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Will continue to keep tab on development work in Bihar: Nitish to JD(U) MLAs
Patna (PTI): JD(U) president Nitish Kumar on Monday told party legislators that he will continue to keep a tab on the development work in Bihar despite having given up the chief minister's post a week ago.
Kumar addressed a meeting of the legislative party at 1, Anney Marg, which is the official residence of the chief minister and which the JD(U) supremo, now a Rajya Sabha MP, had occupied for nearly two decades.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, JD(U) MLC and spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said, "Our party leader has said that except for sessions of Parliament, which would require his presence in Delhi, he will spend his maximum time in Bihar."
"Nitish Kumar told us that he will ensure that the good work done while he was in power continues under the new government, in which the JD(U) is an important partner. To keep a tab, he will tour the state in due course," Neeraj Kumar said.
The JD(U) spokesperson was asked about speculations that the meeting had been convened to decide on the role to be assigned to Nishant, the party supremo's son, who joined the JD(U) last month, but has declined to accept a ministerial berth in the Samrat Choudhary government.
"There is no confusion about the role of Nishant, who has been accepted by the party as the leader of the future. In any case, there was no discussion on him today," Neeraj Kumar said.
Nitish Kumar has been authorised by the legislators to decide on choosing the legislative party leader, he added.
Among those present at the meeting were Union minister and former JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan' and Deputy Chief Ministers Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav.
Interestingly, don turned politician Anant Kumar Singh, who represents Mokama assembly seat, claimed after the meeting that MLAs were asked by the supreme leader to try and win "200 seats in the next elections".
"Nitish Kumar ji told us that he will now be more easily available for party workers and general public. He also said that he will extensively tour the state and asked us to work hard so that the party wins 200 seats in the next elections", said Singh, who is often in news for putting his foot in the mouth.
The Bihar assembly is 243-strong and the JD(U)'s current tally is 85, four less than ally BJP, which is the single largest party.
The JD(U)'s best-ever performance was in 2010, when it had contested 142 seats and won 115 of these. It was also the highest tally for any single party since Bihar's truncation in 2000, until when Jharkhand was part of the state and assembly had 324 seats.
