How Election Commission High Court and Supreme Court Rejection of State Employees in Voting Counting and SIR Voter Deletions Spark Questions on Bengal Poll Outcome

Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee has approached the Supreme Court highlighting large scale deletion of voter names during the Special Intensive Revision exercise in West Bengal. The party argues that in several constituencies the number of deleted voters exceeded the winning margins of BJP candidates. This challenge comes after BJP ended TMC 15 year rule in the April 2026 assembly elections. The plea refers to earlier Supreme Court observations on voter list revision and seeks review of the results.

The SIR exercise removed nearly 91 lakh names from electoral rolls which is about 12 percent of total voters. Around 27 lakh names came under logical discrepancy and pending adjudication categories. TMC told the court that in at least 31 seats lost to BJP the deletions were higher than victory margins. In one example a TMC candidate lost by just 862 votes while over 5400 names were struck off. BJP led by around 32 lakh votes overall but many deletion appeals remain pending. Common citizens from poorer backgrounds reported names missing despite voting in past elections raising concerns that genuine voters especially from certain communities were affected.

In earlier hearings Justice Joymalya Bagchi had asked what would happen if victory margin is only 2 percent but 15 percent of voters could not cast their vote. TMC is using this remark to argue that deletions affected fairness in close contests. The Supreme Court bench with Chief Justice Surya Kant has asked for detailed applications and noted election petitions as an option. Reports indicate in 49 seats deletions crossed margins affecting wins for both parties. In many BJP won seats total deletions stayed higher than the margin keeping the debate active even with good voter turnout.

The Election Commission defended SIR as necessary cleanup of bogus duplicate deceased and shifted voters in a state with history of inflated rolls. BJP leaders highlighted strong anti incumbency against TMC after 15 years as the main reason for victory of over 200 seats. Critics claim the Election Commission favours the central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as all three Election Commissioners work under the current system. TMC had knocked on Calcutta High Court and Supreme Court seeking appointment of both state and central government officers in voting and counting process in Bengal for better balance. Election Commission High Court and Supreme Court rejected these requests and allowed deployment of central staff as supervisors. This has led some people to question institutional independence and raise doubts on possible pressures though courts stated they acted based on law and ECI assurances. Many voters turned out in high numbers TMC won some seats with deletions and new voters were added too. The picture remains mixed with support for clean rolls and worries over genuine participation especially among women and certain groups.