One day, when history will have been written about the ‘SIR’ episode of West Bengal, there will be no better heading than this, perhaps. Extreme suffering, harassment, uncertainty, frustration, anger, protests, deaths- SIR has become an iconic horror, a terrible nightmare. It is an unrealistic task to complete a ‘Special Intensive Revision’ of nearly 7.5 crore voters in only 2/3 months. And what is the result? Nearly 91 lakh names from the previous electoral list have been deleted. Most of these deleted names are of the Muslims, Adivasis, Matuas, tea-garden labourers and women. If 30 to 35 lakhs among them are removed due to death, displacement, or duplicate entries, the remaining 55 to 60 lakh people are alive and genuine citizens. But after the final publication of the electoral roll, they will definitely lose their civic rights. A complete uncertainty has been looming over their future. In fact, the exercise undertaken by the ECI is verification of citizenship or preparing NRC— a task ECI is not constitutionally authorized to take on.
Catastrophe Entailed by Unconstitutional SIR
There is no provision in the Indian Constitution for an SIR to overhaul the voter list. The Election Commission of India (ECI) can delete the names of dead, shifted to other places, or duplicate voters from the electoral roll and revise it, truthfully and accurately. It can also add the names of those who have attained the age of 18 or started living at an address which falls under the constituency where the voter list is being updated. This is a normal process and is done annually.
But trampling underfoot all stipulated prescripts of revising electoral rolls and caring a fig for the objections raised from various quarters about gross irregularities in compiling the list, the ECI has completely manoeuvred the SIR process. It directed that the voters who did not feature in the 2002 list but voted in all subsequent elections after including their names in the electoral roll complying with all prescribed requirement, will have to appear in hearing with valid documents to prove their bona fide as valid voter. The ECI could not provide any ostensible reason for considering the 2002 voter list as the basis of deciding voting eligibility. Many of the documents sought for in support of eligibility, the ECI knows very well, cannot be submitted by most of the deleted voters who belong to the downtrodden section. For example, who in the village areas or even in urban pockets possess birth certificate, not only of their own but even of their parents? Because of repeated bouts of river erosion, devastating cyclones and other floods, natural calamities, many of the valid citizenship proofs, whether belonging to the stipulated category have either been lost or damaged beyond retrieval. How and from where would the hapless wretched abysmally poor Indian citizens salvage those documents? Moreover, anyone conversant with the juridical norms and procedures is aware that there is a provision of disposing cases based on circumstantial evidence which is defined as proof of facts offered as evidence from which other facts may be inferred. EPIC cards, provided by the ECI itself, Aadhar card containing biometric information preserved by the government, were also rejected. Even certain documents like secondary school examination admit cards were rejected in the beginning but later the Supreme Court clarified that Madhyamik (Class 10) admit cards can be used for the verification of identity and parentage if accompanied by the corresponding pass certificate. Those whose names were not on that list have to search for a kinship link with the list published in that year. Also, a minor spelling mistake (like Mondal as Mandal) was not ignored as if those who prepared the erstwhile lists were all ignorant of the reality where such mistakes are natural. Many of those who have not been mapped have been summoned for a hearing. Such examples are plenty. What big a hoax it is when passports which are prime proof of citizenship have not been recognized as valid document in many cases.
An estimated one crore people lined up for the hearing under the scorching sun. Some have stood in the queue more than once. Long queues of citizens whose names were struck out for reasons unknown were seen outside the hearing centres for hours octogenarians, ailing and physically handicapped included. And under tension of being omitted from the voter list, many died of heart tacks. Some even committed suicide because they could not bear with the anxiety. Being unable to bear with pressure of workload and regular revisions of norms by the ECI, quite a number of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) appointed by the Commission either committed suicide or succumbed to cardiac arrests. The death has crossed 200. But there is no concern on the part of either the BJP-led central government or its obviously pliant Election Commission. There is not even an expression of regret, let alone giving compensation.
Some Notable Instances
Those belonging to Matua or Rajbanshi communities, are facing tremendous harassment. They have many of the 11 documents that the ECI has asked to submit as proof of citizenship. In spite of this, names of several lakhs of those communities are erased from the list. On the other hand, many tribal people who do not have their own land, or do not possess a birth certificate are unmapped or their names straightaway deleted. The name of Dr Tarun Mondal, an ex-MP, who was in central government service as medical officer for 23 years, who receives pension from both the central government as well as for having been an MP, who holds diplomatic passport, found his name absent despite having filed all necessary documents. Recently, Suprabuddha Sen, the grandson of legendary artist Nandalal Bose, who illustrated the original manuscript of India’s Constitution and designed the Bharat Ratna emblem, and his wife Deepa Sen, made headlines after their names were removed from the electoral roll in Shantiniketan during a special revision exercise. Yet his family is not recognized as valid voters. Many BLOs did not find their names in the electoral roll. Names of many election officers are also removed from the voter list.
Final Voter List Published before Resolving all Tribunal Hearing
Earlier, 58 lakh deletions were observed in the draft electoral list. Around 24.16 lakh electors were identified as deceased, 32.65 lakh electors as shifted and absent, and 1.38 lakh electors were found to have duplicate enrolments in multiple places. But on 28 February, an additional 6 lakh names were deleted, and another 60 lakh odd names were kept as ‘under adjudication’ in the pretext of non-mapping or ‘logical discrepancy’. But when would those cases be solved? After 28 February, it became a big question. It is easily understandable that 60 lakh cases cannot be resolved within a fortnight, not even in a month. The ECI has neither such infrastructure nor adequate time. When protests erupted throughout the province, the Supreme Court entered the field and took up the responsibility of settling the ‘under adjudication’ cases. It appointed judicial officers drawing hon’ble judges from both West Bengal as well as other states.
On 6 April, the ECI published the ‘final’ voter list. Out of 60 lakhs, 27 lakh names were found deleted. These deleted voters had submitted all necessary documents. Still, they are out of the list. Incredible paradox! To sooth the frayed wrath of the people at large, the ECI has set up district-level tribunals. But they are yet to function. Meanwhile, the election schedule was announced on 16 March, and the last dates of submission of the nomination paper were 6 April and 9 April for Phase-I and Phase-II, respectively. From those dates, voter lists were frozen. Therefore, even if some names are cleared in adjudication, they would not be able to cast their votes this time. People are again queueing for appealing to the tribunals which have not yet started full-fledged functioning. Then what about the disputed cases sought to be resolved in the tribunals? There is no answer.
Logical Discrepancy – An Illogical Excuse
The ECI has found out a new coinage – ‘Logical discrepancy’. The Peoples’ Representation Act was passed in 1950 and amended several times. But there is no mention of such a provision which can be a ground for cancellation of name from the electoral roll. So, it’s completely unconstitutional. What does it mean? If six persons mention one single name as their kinship link in the SIR-form, their names are put under adjudication. If the age difference between father and son/ daughter is more than 40 years, they are grilled. If the middle names like ‘Chandra’ or ‘Kumar’ are missing in 2002 list, or in 2025 list, their names are kept under suspicion. Incorrect spelling in the electorate role is also treated as a logical discrepancy. But who is responsible for that? Use of AI tool by incompetent handlers to render the names of the electorates from Bengali to English has created a complete mess. But who is responsible for this? The ECI itself. Then why should genuine Indian citizens pay the price? What is the logic?
Notably, the Supreme Court has wondered: “SIR is going on in many states, but why is there so much chaos in West Bengal only?” The answer is very clear. In no other state except West Bengal has such a criterion like ‘logical discrepancy’ been used.
Why Such a Muddle?
Apparently, it would appear that it is a procedural blunder. Not at all. There is a deep-seated conspiracy behind it. Right from the beginning of SIR, PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other BJP satraps have been raising a bogey of illegal infiltration. Who are targeted as “illegal intruders”? Obviously, the religious minorities.
The RSS-BJP-Sangh Parivar whose arch communal Hindutva doctrine is anchored in spreading hatred against the Muslims and thereby orchestrating a communal polarization, has found in this hue of ‘illegal infiltration’ a staple for winning election in the border states particularly of West Bengal and Assam. So, the echelons in the BJP hierarchy have been crying hoarse that the ‘Hindus are in danger’ because of ‘ghuspetiyas’ meaning illegal infiltrators. They allege that not in lakhs but crores of Bangladeshi Muslims and Rohingyas (a predominantly Muslim, stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group from Myanmar’s Rakhine State who fled to Bangladesh after decades of persecution and violence by Myanmar rulers) have ingressed into West Bengal and Assam and then spread over various states. During Bihar election also, they used ‘ghuspetiya’ hue to exacerbate communal polarization. But despite SIR, they could not detect single Bangladeshi ‘ghuspetiya’. When the central government was asked how many illegal infiltrators have been identified, the BJP government said they do not have the number. But undertaking a campaign against orchestrated imaginary ‘ghuspetiyas’, there was frenzied attack against Bengali-speaking Muslims in different states. They were all branded as ‘ghuspetiyas’ despite having document of bona fide Indian citizenship.
Now, it is the turn of West Bengal. Let us politely ask the central government, who guards the international border? The answer is the Border Security Force (BSF) under the union home ministry. In 2014, before coming to power, PM Modi in his public address squarely blamed the then Congress government for allowing illegal migrants by keeping BSF inactive. If that be so, who is responsible if the ‘ghuspetiyas’, as they allege, are coming in large numbers?
In fact, this illegal infiltration theory is clever ploy to keep people’s attention from the burning problems of life and nurture communal polarization conveniently. And now SIR has been undertaken to massively delete the names of the minority community which, in reality, has been the case. Maximum deleted names are of the Muslims. Any Muslim name is under scanner. The name of Akhtar Ali, a medal-winning athlete in Paralympic, is deleted. When he met the DM of Nadia District and asked to review his case, it is alleged that the ECI-appointed DM said, “You’re a Bangladeshi.”
See how the BJP leaders are holding brief in support of this. Amit Shah, who is now stationed in West Bengal to oversee Election keeping his duties as union home minister in back burner, has directed the authorities to “Detect, delete, and then deport.” Shuvendu Adhikary, a TMC turncoat and now a BJP leader and the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal, has given an open threat that after coming to power, they would drive away the religious minorities. Dilip Ghosh, former President of the state BJP, has remarked: “Those whose names are deleted are infiltrators.” How could he come to know that? Is he privy to ECI conclusions?
ECI has Become a Rubber-Stamp of BJP
As students of political economy and imbued with the illumining thoughts of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, our leader, teacher and guide, we know that fascism has become a general feature in every imperialist-capitalist country, developed or developing. One of the key fascist measures is centralization of political power. The very act of the central BJP government, a servitor of the ruling monopolists, to subvert relative autonomy of the various institutions like the ECI, UGC, etc., and turn them into appendages of ruling dispensation is a mark of that political centralization. Earlier, the law was that the Election Commissioner would appoint by a three-member collegium—whose members would be the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India. The BJP brought an amendment to the law and replaced the CJI with a cabinet-level minister. That means, only those who are in the good books of the government would be considered.
Thus, the ECI has become a caged parrot of the ruling BJP. Handpicked bureaucrats have been anointed at the top of the ECI glaringly to reach out undue benefits to the ruling BJP. Similarly, there is massive reshuffling of police officers and bureaucrats of the state administration so that only pliable people are in command in the entire electoral process.
Role of Judiciary Belies Expectation of Justice
The Supreme Court could stop the ECI and the BJP from flagrant violation of democratic norms. But it did not. When on behalf of the aggrieved citizens, the door of the Apex Court was knocked at questioning the rationale of the logical discrepancy, no clear answer was received. Rather, on 10 March 2026, the Supreme Court ordered creation of Appellate Tribunals, comprised of former High Court judges, to hear appeals concerning voter exclusions during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Commission said these tribunals would hear appeals against orders passed by designated judicial officers in cases involving discrepancies in electoral rolls. The Election Commission further said appeals can be filed after the publication of the supplementary electoral rolls, either online through the ECI NET platform or physically at the offices of District Magistrates, Sub-Divisional Magistrates or Sub-Divisional Officers, who will ensure digitization and uploading of applications. The Commission added that the notification has come into force with immediate effect and the tribunals will cease to exist once all appeals are disposed of in the respective districts. But the tribunals did not commence functioning even after two weeks. Over 27 lakh voters who were put under adjudication were excluded from West Bengal’s electoral rolls on 7April 2026, with over a quarter of such deletions occurring in two Muslim dominated districts in the State. In all, 91 lakh names have been deleted from the State’s voter list since the SIR began, meaning that West Bengal’s electorate has shrunk almost 12%, from 7.66 crore electors in October 2025 to 6.75 crore now, days ahead of the Assembly election. Thus, the Apex Court virtually exonerated ECI from all wrongdoings while the axe fell on 91 lakh electorates. Is it democracy by even a fragment of imagination? Or it is forcible snatching of fundamental right to vote of a huge number of Indian citizens?
People Whose Names have not Appeared on the List are Debarred from Voting
And now after months of interventions to make the SIR more inclusive, the top court made cutting remarks about the impact of an exercise the poll body said was necessary to “purify the electoral roll”. “The original SIR notification said voters in the 2002 electoral roll would not be touched. The 2002 roll would be the benchmark. But when you introduced ‘logical discrepancy’, you infracted that rule,” hon’ble Justice Joymalya Bagchi, part of the Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, told the poll body. “The right to remain on the electoral roll, the right to vote in the country you are born in is something which is not only constitutional but sentimental. It is the biggest expression of nationality and patriotism that you are in a participatory process to elect a democratic government,” he said.
“We are not bothered about West Bengal ‘standing out’. But no other State has a category called ‘logical discrepancy’. We have examined Bihar; we did not find a single person flagged for logical discrepancy… This is not a question of inflating or shrinking the EC, but of fairness”, an hon’ble member of the bench said. “This is not a fight between the ECI and the West Bengal government. This is not a blame-game. It’s a question of voters being sandwiched between two constitutional authorities. Our adjudicatory process and interventions were meant to ensure fair elections. The appeal hearings cannot be hurried,” the apex court observed.
The court has clearly called out the glaring discrepancy between EC promises and its actions, especially in West Bengal and unique to this state by using the criterion of ‘logical discrepancy’ and its unfair use to weed out millions of voters despite having valid documents. While these pronouncements by the judges clearly keep up the option or hope for redressing of wrongs later on, what about the sufferings of millions of bonafide voters left out feeling that their inherent, fundamental civic rights even are being brought into question, in the face of BJP threats and propaganda that they will delete and deport ‘infiltrators’? And the fact that they cannot vote!
This is Administrative Rigging
Our Party has long been saying that election in India has long ceased to be free and fair. Instead, it is controlled by money-muscle-media and administrative power. SIR is a clear case of administrative rigging as an autonomous institution like ECI has been transformed into a pliable body which is operationalizing every dictate of the ruling BJP so that the party can seize power in West Bengal by, to be honest, forging people’s mandate. Besides ECI, police, paramilitary forces and a good section of supple bureaucrats are being nakedly used by the central government to manipulate electoral result in favour of the BJP. Thus, the ECI as hand-maiden of the BJP is slaughtering even the barest precepts of democracy.
People are Outraged
People are outraged at this attempt to manoeuvre election. Demonstrations are held in almost all districts. Our Party has been organizing mass protests in various districts, gave deputation to the office of the State Election Commissioner as well as district election offices and demanded that no citizen should be deprived of exercising franchise on the pretext of pendency of dispute in the tribunal. Those whose names featured on 2025 voter list ( of course sans the dead, duplicates and the shifted) must be allowed to vote. This is not just a movement against SIR. It is a movement to protect hard-earned democratic right and unravel the unholy nexus of the ruling party and the administration.
