The fate of voters wiped out during the SIR hangs in the balance for the upcoming Kolkata municipal elections

The ECI, on its part, has also launched special drives to re-enroll voters omitted during the SIR and also announced an annual Special Summary Revision (SSR) following widespread protests against the large-scale erasure of voters’ names. File | Photo credit: PTI

With the Kolkata and Howrah Municipal Corporation elections in West Bengal scheduled to be held next month, the fate of voters whose names were struck off during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls, including those whose appeals have stalled in the tribunals, remains hanging as it is unclear whether they would be able to vote in the urban local elections.

Under Article 243ZA of the Constitution, the State Election Commission and not the Election Commission of India (ECI) is vested with the supervision, management and control of the preparation of electoral rolls for all municipal elections.

Under Section 5 of the West Bengal State Election Commission Act, 1994, the State Election Commission has a “discretion” whether to accept electoral rolls used for council polls in municipal elections. It also has statutory powers to make additions and deletions to electoral rolls that have been used for voting in the assembly.

Opposition parties and members of civil society in the state have also demanded that the State Election Commission, in view of the large number of eligible voters struck off the electoral roll under the SIR, should consider holding the election after the conclusion of the special re-registration and SSR proceedings, as this would allow for the re-registration of eligible voters struck off the SIR before the aforementioned municipal or municipal elections.

In a memorandum submitted to state election commissioner Krishna Gupta on Monday (October 26), they also urged him to include all appellants whose appeals are pending before the SIR appellate tribunals.

Among those who signed the memorandum were Pradesh Congress president Subhankar Sarkar, TMC MP Sougata Roy and former MPs Samik Lahiri and Jawhar Sircar.

According to the leaders, the Office of the State Electoral Commissioner has informed that it will meet with a delegation of representatives of the signatory organizations on Wednesday (October 28) to discuss the issue.

In West Bengal, nearly 60 thousand voters were removed in the Absent/Shifted/Duplicate and Dead category during the enumeration phase. At the same time, the cases of more than 37 million voters are stuck in appeals tribunals.

In the Kolkata and Howrah Municipal Corporation region, the number of cases under appeal is around 1.6 million.

Published – 26 Oct 2026 21:08 IST