West Bengal Begins First Electoral Roll Revision in 23 Years Amid Technical Challenges and Political Tensions

BLOs conduct house-to-house verification as the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls commences in West Bengal

Kolkata:

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls launched across West Bengal on Tuesday, deploying over 80,000 booth-level officers (BLOs) to visit households and distribute enumeration forms, initiating a politically significant exercise ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.

By 4 pm, BLOs had successfully distributed more than 16 lakh enumeration forms, according to a senior official.

The month-long house-to-house enumeration process, scheduled to continue until December 4, began relatively peacefully with BLOs delivering forms and explaining procedures to voters.

However, the first day encountered challenges: a technical malfunction disrupted online form distribution, while hundreds of schoolteachers serving as BLOs struggled to balance their election duties alongside regular teaching responsibilities.

Regarding reports of BLOs facing obstruction in certain areas, an official from the CEO's office confirmed they have requested reports from the relevant Electoral Registration Officers (EROs).

The BJP has welcomed the SIR as enhancing transparency in electoral rolls, while the ruling TMC has questioned its timing and purpose, alleging the Election Commission is acting under BJP pressure to manipulate voter lists before next year's state elections.

"A total of 80,681 BLOs have been deployed across all 294 assembly constituencies. Approximately 7.66 crore enumeration forms have been prepared, with each voter receiving two copies—one to keep with a stamped acknowledgement and another for Election Commission records," explained an EC official.

"No untoward incidents have been reported thus far. We are optimistic the process will continue smoothly statewide," the official added.

This SIR marks the first such exercise in West Bengal after 23 years, with the previous one conducted in 2002.

The Election Commission's plan for simultaneous online distribution faced setbacks when the voter portal failed to launch due to backend technical issues.

"This is due to a technical problem. We anticipate the service will be activated within days," another official stated without specifying an exact timeline.

Despite this setback, officials at the CEO's office expressed confidence that both online and offline processes would function smoothly in coming days, describing the initiative as West Bengal's most comprehensive voter list update in over two decades.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal Teachers' Association expressed concern that many teachers assigned as BLOs couldn't participate in Tuesday's form distribution as they were required at their schools.

"Many teachers couldn't join the house-to-house process while on school duty. Those whose schools are near distribution centers are somehow managing both responsibilities," said Golam Mustafa Sarkar, an association office-bearer.

The association has requested that teachers engaged in SIR duties receive "on-duty" status to prevent what they describe as an "inhuman workload."

"Without on-duty status, teachers must handle both academic and election-related work simultaneously," Sarkar noted, also highlighting safety concerns for teachers traveling to remote areas after school hours.

A teacher from Murshidabad reported being unable to participate in Tuesday's exercise but plans to compensate on the next public holiday.

Several BLOs have also reported not yet receiving their designated mobile phones required for the enumeration process.

SIR-related help desks have been established at District Election Officers' (DEOs) offices throughout West Bengal to assist voters. Major political parties—including TMC, BJP, and CPI(M)—have also set up voter help counters at district and local offices to "assist people with form filling and verification." Political analysts view the SIR as a critical pre-election exercise in West Bengal, where both TMC and BJP have intensified outreach efforts to ensure supporter inclusion on electoral rolls.

With electoral roll revision forming the foundation for the 2026 assembly polls, political parties are taking no chances.

According to the EC schedule, draft rolls will be published on December 9. Claims and objections can be submitted between December 9 and January 8, followed by hearings and verifications until January 31.

The final electoral rolls will be published on February 7, just two months before the assembly elections expected in April-May next year.