TMC flags concerns over transparency in publication of Bengal’s electoral rolls, writes to CEO

Kolkata, Mar 6 (PTI) The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Friday alleged a lack of transparency in the publication of electoral rolls for the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections, and urged the Election Commission to ensure compliance with directions of the Supreme Court.

In a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal, the party pointed to a memorandum issued on February 28 regarding the publication of the Final Electoral Roll 2026 for all 294 Assembly constituencies of the state.

According to official data released on February 28, as many as 63.66 lakh names, around 8.3 per cent of the electorate, have been deleted since the SIR process began in November last year, reducing the voter base from about 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore.

In addition, more than 60.06 lakh electors have been placed under the “under adjudication” category, meaning their eligibility will be determined through legal scrutiny in the coming weeks, and the names of eligible voters will be added to supplementary rolls.

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, considered number 2 in the party hierarchy, in the letter sought clarification from the CEO on whether electors added through supplementary rolls would be treated as part of the final electoral roll for the assembly elections likely to be held in April.

“In view of the directions issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, it was necessary that the notification clearly mention that electors included through the daily supplementary rolls will be treated as part of the final electoral roll for the 2026 Assembly elections,” Banerjee said in the letter which was shared on X.

He further alleged that there has been non-compliance with directions regarding the daily publication of supplementary electoral rolls.

“The Hon’ble Supreme Court has expressly directed that supplementary electoral rolls incorporating outcomes of adjudication must be published on a daily basis to ensure transparency and keep voters and stakeholders informed about the status of claims and objections,” Banerjee said.

According to the TMC leader, while a dedicated portal has reportedly been created for judicial officers where verification details and adjudication records are uploaded, the Election Commission has not made corresponding information publicly available.

“In the absence of a publicly accessible consolidated disclosure or daily publication of supplementary rolls, transparency in the electoral process is being compromised,” he added.

The party has urged the Election Commission to issue a clarification confirming that supplementary roll inclusions will be treated as part of the final electoral roll and to ensure that such rolls are published daily in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directions.

In another X post, the TMC alleged a mismatch of figures in the submission of Form 7, used for deletion of names.

The party said, “Your official notification clearly states 42,251 Form 7 submissions. Yet the final electoral rolls show 5,46,053 deletions through Form 7; an additional 5,03,802 deletions beyond what was submitted. How does one reconcile this massive gap?” If these were received by mail, they should have been reflected in the EC bulletin of January 20, the last date for claims and objections, the TMC said.

“Similarly, Form 6/6A submissions totalled 6,33,762; yet only 1,82,036 additions were made under Form 6, resulting in 4,51,726 fewer inclusions than expected. This alone points to unchecked backend tampering, arbitrary purges, and a process weaponised to disenfranchise genuine voters,” the post read.

Forms 6 and 6A are used for adding names to the voters list. PTI SUS NN