The Election Commission of India (ECI) is expected to publish the first supplementary list of “disputed” voters in West Bengal today, March 21, 2026, marking a pivotal moment in the state’s high-stakes Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. This supplementary roll follows the February 28 release of the final electoral roll, which left approximately 60.6 lakh names categorized as “under adjudication”—a status indicating that their citizenship or residency credentials were still being verified by a dedicated team of over 500 judicial officers. As of this week, nearly 25 lakh of these cases have been resolved, and the upcoming list will clarify which of these citizens have been successfully reinstated and which face formal deletion from the rolls ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled for late April.
The publication comes amid significant political and administrative tension. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly voiced concerns over the SIR process, alleging a “deep-rooted conspiracy” to disenfranchise genuine voters and describing the current judicial oversight as an “undeclared President’s Rule.” Conversely, opposition leaders have defended the revision as a necessary step to ensure a clean and transparent voter list. To prevent any law-and-order disruptions, the Calcutta High Court and the state’s Chief Secretary have held emergency meetings with the Chief Electoral Officer, Manoj Agarwal, to finalize security protocols for judicial officers and polling stations. With the state already under the Model Code of Conduct, the release of this list is seen as a critical hurdle to cross before the first phase of voting begins on April 23.
