Battle of the rolls: How Mamata vs EC over SIR has set stage for 2026 Bengal assembly elections | India News

The publication of West Bengal’s final electoral rolls on February 28 almost closes the chapter on one of the most acrimonious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercises in the state’s recent political history. Now remains the aftermath of the political storm that has stirred, not just on the streets but in the courtroom too. What began as a technical audit of voter records evolved into a full-scale institutional confrontation, with chief minister Mamata Banerjee waging an unrelenting battle against the Election Commission of India in courtrooms, on the streets and through sustained political mobilisation.Over months, the revision moved beyond administrative procedure into the realm of constitutional argument and electoral strategy. Banerjee challenged the exercise before the Supreme Court of India, framed the deletions as a threat to “genuine voters,” and converted procedural hearings into political messaging. The commission, in turn, defended the drive as a lawful correction of the rolls, backed by judicially monitored scrutiny.

By the time the final list came out, the SIR had ceased to be a simple exercise. It had become a defining prelude to the 2026 assembly elections, a contest over numbers, legitimacy and narrative, fought simultaneously in administrative offices, public rallies and the courtroom.

A shrunken electoral roll

According to the EC’s final list, the voter count now stands at 6.44 crore. This follows the draft roll published in December which pegged the electorate at 7.08 crore after 58.2 lakh deletions during the initial phase of scrutiny.Now, overall 63.7 lakh electors have been struck off. More than 60 lakh names have been placed “under adjudication”, while 1.9 lakh new voters have been added. Since the draft publication, there have been a net 3.6 lakh further deletions after hearings and verification.Before the SIR began, Bengal’s electoral roll stood at 7.66 crore. The final figure of 6.44 crore therefore represents a net reduction of 1.22 crore voters, a decline of nearly 15.9 per cent from the pre-SIR list.The day of announcement, however, was not without confusion.At an afternoon press conference, Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal initially put the total number of voters at 7.04 crore, a figure that included the 60 lakh voters whose cases remain under adjudication. By evening, the EC issued a clarification excluding those names from the final count, revising the figure downward to 6.44 crore.Murshidabad has the highest number of voters, around 11 lakh, under adjudication, followed by Malda (8.3 lakh) and North 24 Parganas (5.9 lakh), including large stretches of the Matua belt. Over 500 judicial officers are currently examining these pending claims. As per EC rules, names cleared by judicial officers can be added through supplementary lists until the last date of filing nominations.Among the districts that witnessed the sharpest drop in voter numbers are North Kolkata, Malda, Murshidabad and parts of North 24 Parganas and Nadia.Of the 63.7 lakh deletions, 58 lakh were categorised as ASD (absent/shifted/dead) voters who were already excluded in the draft SIR list. An additional 5.5 lakh were deleted via Form 7 proceedings. “Mistakes can always happen in such a massive exercise,” CEO Agarwal said, adding that intentional wrongful deletions would invite strong action.Sporadic protests broke out across districts. In Bankura, roads were blocked after around 1.2 lakh deletions were reported. In Salanpur (West Burdwan), police rescued a booth-level officer after 134 out of 632 voters in a booth were marked deleted or under adjudication.Even the roll-out had hiccups: though hard copies were displayed from noon, the online version went live only in the evening, triggering long queues at ERO and BDO offices. An interesting factor that came up was the marginally less deletions of women voters. Data from the EC’s SIR shows a slightly sharper reduction in women voters than men ahead of the assembly elections — a shift that could matter in tight contests.Women electors declined from about 3.77 crore to 3.44 crore, an 8.7 per cent fall, while male voters dropped from 3.89 crore to 3.60 crore, a roughly 7.5 per cent decline. Women still make up nearly half of the state’s 7.04 crore electorate.Over the past decade, women voters have emerged as a decisive political force, forming a key pillar of support for CM Mamata. The BJP has increasingly focused on attracting this bloc.Turnout trends highlight their growing influence, with women’s participation rising from 80.75 per cent in 2006 to 94.42 per cent in 2016, and slightly surpassing men again in 2021.This could matter as post-poll surveys from the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election indicate a clear gender tilt toward TMC, which secured over 50 per cent of the women’s vote. The BJP, in comparison, won around 37 per cent support among women voters.

Mamata’s confrontation

For Mamata Banerjee the SIR became a constitutional confrontation before it became a political one from Day 1.Unlike many opposition leaders who confine electoral disputes to press conferences and dossiers, Mamata turns them into street-level confrontations, physically inserting herself into moments of conflict. Her politics is not just rhetorical, it involves performance, immediate and visibly combative, designed to transform institutional battles into public mobilisation.Her decision to personally move the Supreme Court marked a rare moment in Indian electoral politics: a sitting chief minister directly challenging an ongoing electoral roll revision and arguing in court.In her plea, she sought scrapping of the drive, suspension of deletions, reliance on existing rolls, and acceptance of Aadhaar as a valid document. But beyond the relief sought, it was her language inside the courtroom that shaped the political message outside it.“When justice is crying behind closed doors, it creates a feeling that justice is not being delivered anywhere,” she said.

At another point she said, “They are targeting West Bengal to bulldoze its people.”She told SC to “save democracy”.These were not routine legal submissions. They were calibrated political statements made inside a constitutional forum.

The SC’s response

The bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, at the time when Mamata spoke in court, observed that “genuine persons must remain on the electoral roll” and stressed, “Every problem has a solution and we must ensure that no innocent person is left out.”At the same time, the court allowed the revision process to continue, issued notices, and directed procedural transparency, including display of discrepancy lists at local offices. In subsequent hearings, it cautioned against broad, non-specific grievances.Although SC may not have given her, precisely what she wanted but the legal exchange created a dual narrative:

Judicial oversight

While the initial hearing saw the Supreme Court largely uphold the continuation of the SIR, it subsequently permitted the process to unfold under an unprecedented layer of judicial supervision.In mid-February, the top court permitted deployment of additional judicial officers, including from Jharkhand and Odisha, to expedite scrutiny of nearly 50 lakh disputed cases. Invoking its powers under Article 142, the court directed that supplementary lists would be deemed part of the final roll published on February 28.However, in its latest on SIR, the court also sharply rebuked the West Bengal government for what it described as repeated, “vague and irrelevant” pleas.Chief Justice Surya Kant told the state not to approach the court “every now and then” to delay the process, remarking that the bench had gone “beyond our mandate” by assigning judicial officers a task ordinarily within the EC’s domain.Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state, had alleged that the EC issued training modules to judicial officers, effectively instructing them on document scrutiny. The bench rejected the contention, stating that judicial officers would independently decide on document validity.The court’s position was clear that both the state government and the EC must create a “congenial atmosphere” for the process to conclude expeditiously.

Political mobilisation

The courtroom battle was not isolated from political strategy, it anchored it.From December onwards, as draft exclusions surfaced, the All India Trinamool Congress operationalised the issue on the ground. “May I Help You” camps were set up across districts to assist voters in filing claims and objections, especially those marked under ASD or “logical discrepancy” categories.Publicly, Mamata reinforced the same rights-based framing in public events she used in court.

In her series of allegations, she claimed that “58 lakh names had already been deleted” and warned that up to 80 lakh could face removal. Even in community gatherings, the CM linked the issue to pluralism and coexistence, ending one address with, “Jeeo aur jeene do — live and let live. May no genuine voter lose their democratic right.”Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate’s raid in January on political consultancy I-PAC added another institutional layer. Mamata personally visited the premises, alleging that agencies were attempting to interfere after “deletion of voters” had failed to tilt the balance. She also directly named home minister Amit Shah creating a political storm.

In another dramatic escalation of her confrontation, Mamata travelled to Delhi in early February to meet the Chief Election Commissioner, accompanied by families she described as “SIR victims.”The visit quickly turned into a political flashpoint.On reaching Banga Bhawan in Chanakyapuri, one of West Bengal’s state guest houses, Mamata found the premises barricaded by Delhi Police. She called it a “symbolic protest”.Addressing officers at the spot, she said, “Brother, what are you doing here? I am not here for an agitation. If I did, you wouldn’t be able to handle it.”She accused the police of “searching and threatening” families housed at the state’s Hailey Road and Chanakyapuri guest houses.Drawing a political contrast, she told reporters, “Amit Shah gets a red carpet in Bengal, but when I come here, I get black carpet. If no one else fights, I will.”Calling Delhi “a zamindari,” she alleged there was “no place for the poor.”Speaking to the media, Mamata alleged harassment, “Look! Busloads of cops have come. People are being tortured, harassed. Police are searching the rooms. Why will they not come? Are they not Indian citizens?”Delhi Police, however, denied entering Banga Bhawan or imposing restrictions, stating that deployment was made after receiving information about the presence of “150–200 supporters of a political party” and senior leaders visiting them.

Even after the publication of the final roll, the party described the outcome as “silent invisible rigging.” In her first reaction after the publication of the final voter list, CM Mamata continued her fight, slamming the EC over deletions in the post-SIR voter rolls, accusing it of colluding with the BJP to disenfranchise genuine voters ahead of the assembly elections. She described the deletions as “deliberate” and called the move “shocking” and “inhumane.”