India, Feb. 8 -- West Bengal chief electoral officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal on Saturday urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to extend the final date of hearing under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state by seven days, citing delays in completion of hearings, verification, and data uploading.

February 7 was the last date of hearing while the final electoral roll was scheduled to be published on February 14. Assembly elections in the state are likely to be held in April. "We have received certain proposals from some District Election Officers regarding extension of the deadline. After compilation and examination of data from the districts, we have requested the Election Commission of India to extend th...