KOLKATA: Following a directive from the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has uploaded a list of around 1.5 crore voters falling under the “logical discrepancies” and “unmapped” categories as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.
However, barring a few locations, the lists containing the names of these voters, who the ECI has already issued notices to appear at designated hearing centres, were not displayed at many such centres, including offices of sub-divisional officers (SDOs), block development officers (BDOs), gram panchayats, municipal wards and taluks across the state till Monday.
According to Commission sources, around 30 lakh voters have been categorised as “unmapped voters” whose records could not be linked to the last SIR exercise conducted in 2002, while the remaining 1.2 crore electors fall under the “logical discrepancies” category.
The publication of lists containing such a large number of voters has further escalated the ongoing face-off between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP in the state.
The Trinamool Congress had earlier moved the Supreme Court, raising several issues related to alleged procedural lapses in the SIR exercise. Acting on the petition, the apex court directed the poll panel to publish the lists of voters belonging to the two categories by January 24 at all SIR hearing centres, including SDO, BDO, gram panchayat, municipal ward and taluk offices across the state.
Reacting to the court directive, Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee lashed out at the ECI, saying, “The apex court has slapped on the faces of the Commission. We have won the case in the court and will also win the vote in 2026.”
However, the Commission’s move to issue notices to 1.5 crore voters, asking them to appear at hearing centres, has put the Trinamool Congress in an uncomfortable position ahead of the Assembly elections in West Bengal, likely to be held in April–May.
Commission sources said that around 30.35 lakh voters have appeared at the hearing centres so far, and document verification of more than 15.22 lakh voters has been completed till Monday.
The opposition camp, particularly the BJP in Bengal, appears relieved by the developments surrounding the notices issued to such a large number of electors. The saffron party has claimed that more than one crore dead and illegal voters would be removed from the final electoral rolls following the SIR process.
Meanwhile, the Trinamool leadership has alleged that the Election Commission, acting at the BJP’s behest, is harassing common citizens by issuing notices to over one crore voters. The ruling party believes it would gain electoral advantage as more people receive notices from the Commission.