Kolkata: The Election Commission of India (ECI) published the first supplementary voters’ list for poll-bound West Bengal just before midnight on Monday, March 23, 2026. This release follows a high-stakes Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process mandated by the Supreme Court to resolve discrepancies in the electoral rolls. The supplementary list, which appeared on the ECI and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) websites around 11:55 PM, contains the names of thousands of voters whose eligibility has been cleared by a panel of 705 judicial officers.
As of Monday evening, Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal confirmed that approximately 29 lakh cases out of the 60.06 lakh originally marked as “under adjudication” have been processed. While the total number of inclusions and deletions in this first batch was not immediately specified, the list provides critical clarity for a significant portion of the 8.5% of the electorate that had been flagged for review. Voters in districts with fewer pending cases, such as Kalimpong, Jhargram, Purulia, and Bankura, have seen nearly all their adjudications completed, with judicial officers now being reassigned to high-volume areas like Murshidabad and Malda.
Key Statistics and Security Measures
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Adjudication Status: 29 lakh cases resolved out of 60 lakh (approx. 48% complete).
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Judicial Oversight: 705 judicial officers and 19 appeal tribunals (staffed by former High Court judges) are managing the process.
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Poll Schedule: Voting for the 294-member assembly is scheduled in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting on May 4, 2026.
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Security: 1,920 companies of central forces are being deployed in phases, with the highest concentration (60 companies) earmarked for Kolkata.
The publication of the list has prompted a high-security alert across the state to prevent any public disorder. Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, Sujoy Pal, convened an emergency meeting on Sunday to ensure the safety of the judicial officers involved in the SIR process. Voters whose names were not cleared in this first supplementary list will have the opportunity to appeal through the newly established tribunals. Despite the official release, some users reported technical difficulties in downloading the booth-specific lists from the ECI Net mobile application and the CEO’s website during the early hours of Tuesday.
