Friday, February 27, 2026

Political Anxiety and Electoral Maths :::: Bigger battle between TMC and BJP on cards :::: West Bengal readies for "rolls" on Feb 28 .... parties set to dissect every name with forensic zeal


West Bengal's final electoral list is set for publication on Saturday, Feb 28. This has to happen according to specific directives of the Supreme Court.


Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar says, "The Parivartan yatra will start from 1st March, and it will be held in 9 areas of West Bengal... 

Central leadership and state leadership will be present in all the meetings... 

We have proposed a mega rally of PM Modi to be held at the end of this yatra at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata...". 


This list will feature over 60 lakh names marked for adjudication and also include deleted electors. 

Supplementary lists will be released in phases after the polls are announced. 

The adjudication is happening as per the Supreme court order. This is the first time any final electoral roll will be having an adjudication-marked list.

There will be many supplementary lists as many phases and names will be included till the last date of nomination.

The phases will be decided after the announcement of polls.


As West Bengal readies for the categorised rolls, political parties especially BJP and the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress will dissect every name with forensic zeal, turning what began as a routine revision into a high-stakes political duel.


This could shape and perhaps also reshape not just the 2026 electorate, but public trust in the democratic process itself.


 Saturday's publication may be only a procedural snapshot, but with the Assembly polls two months away, it is set to trigger a sharper TMC-BJP duel.

SIR may be drawn into a debate on "Bengali identity and the poor" while from the BJP's lens -- "national security and clean electoral rolls" will be played put. 


The SIR has "exposed the tightrope" between electoral cleansing and social reassurance in a border state where citizenship and identity are deeply intertwined.








On Election Commission to deploy 480 companies of CAPF ahead of assembly polls, TMC MP Saugata Roy says, "This is beyond our control, as it's all being orchestrated by the Election Commission, a move meant to instil fear. 


But the people of Bengal won't be deterred. We will all stand together and re-elect Mamata Banerjee as Chief Minister...". 


The February 28 publication, classifying 7.08 crore electors as "approved", "deleted" or "under adjudication", marks a pivotal moment in an exercise that has travelled far beyond bureaucratic correction to become the central flashpoint before the polls.


The Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the first statewide exercise since 2002, was conceived by the Election Commission as a statutory clean-up ahead of a major election.










“Till date 530 judicial officers have been recruited. Out of them, 270-280 are working. There are some teething problems but they are being sorted out. The Calcutta High Court will take a decision on the number of judicial officers from other states. 



There is no figure on disposal as the high court and we don’t have any dashboard now. Once the dashboard is ready, we will get disposal figures,” West Bengal CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal said.



The political road map could also shift dramatically. Analysts argue that any delay in the electoral process could open constitutional complications. Under existing provisions, failure to form a government within stipulated timelines may automatically trigger central intervention.


The possibility of West Bengal President’s Rule, once dismissed as political rhetoric, now appears part of mainstream debate.


Kolkata-based journalist Sumon Chattopadhyay suggests Banerjee appeared “nervous” during recent legal developments, interpreting her courtroom posture as a sign of political strain.


Data emerging from the SIR exercise has heightened political tensions. Reports suggest that deletions and corrections could affect nearly 19 lakh voters across key constituencies.


In the 2021 Assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won around 100 seats with margins below 25,000 votes. The BJP secured 62 such closely contested segments. 

Even minor electoral shifts could alter future outcomes. 












Those voters marked "under adjudication" will not be permitted to vote until cleared and included in supplementary rolls. 

Names tagged "deleted" will remain visible but ineligible unless reinstated. 


Supplementary lists will continue in phases.  


Draft rolls published on December 16, 2025 saw the electorate shrink from 7.66 crore to 7.08 crore, with over 58 lakh names deleted due to death, migration, duplication or untraceability.


The second phase covered hearings for 1.67 crore electors - 1.36 crore flagged for "logical discrepancies" and 31 lakh lacking mapping. 

Around 60 lakh voters remain under adjudication.



ends

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Political Anxiety and Electoral Maths :::: Bigger battle between TMC and BJP on cards :::: West Bengal readies for "rolls" on Feb 28 .... parties set to dissect every name with forensic zeal

West Bengal's final electoral list is set for publication on Saturday, Feb 28. This has to happen according to specific directives of th...