West Bengal Assembly Election 2026 | 'Deleted' voters rush to tribunals in an attempt to get back on electoral rolls

The 19 tribunals set up to decide on the appeals filed by lakhs of people disenfranchised by the Election Commission’s roll revision exercise started working earlier this week.

Kolkata: Rafika Bibi left her home in Bethuadahri in Nadia early in the morning and travelled by bus with her daughter and son-in-law to reach Joka in South Kolkata, where, at the Syama Prasad Mookerjee National Institute of Water and Sanitation (SPM-NIWAS), a tribunal would decide if she could get back on the electoral rolls of West Bengal.

“I have already filed an appeal after I found that they have struck me off the electoral rolls due to a mismatch in the spelling of my name,” Rafika said, adding “I have come here to know what has happened to my appeal and whether I would be able to vote.”

The police and paramilitary personnel guarding the institute run by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, however, did not allow her to get in. “They told me I would be notified when a decision would be made.”

The 19 tribunals set up to decide on the appeals filed by lakhs of people disenfranchised by the Election Commission’s roll revision exercise in the poll-bound state started working from the SPM-NIWAS earlier this week.

Though the appeals could be filed online or offline at the sub-divisional or district headquarters across the state, some of the deleted voters – anxious to get back their voting rights – turned up in front of the institute, only to be turned away by the security personnel.

Supreme Court’s latest order has opened a small window for the deleted voters.

Mohammed Rabiul Islam Molla has five other siblings, and the Election Commission flagged them as cases of a “logical discrepancy”.

He and his siblings were called for hearings. “We submitted all necessary documents to prove that we were all born to the same parents. They still deleted two of us, myself and one of my brothers,” said Rabiul.

He had almost reconciled to the fact that he would not be able to vote on April 29, as the electoral rolls had already been frozen for Basirhat and other constituencies, which would go to polls in the second phase, on April 9.

The rolls for the constituencies, which would go to the polls in the first phase on April 23, had also been frozen for April 6.

But the Supreme Court’s latest order has opened a small window for the deleted voters like Rafika Bibi and Rabiul Islam. The apex court said on Thursday that the voters cleared by the tribunals, even up to two days before polling for both the phases, would still be allowed to vote.

“The order of the Supreme Court yesterday raised hope. That’s why I came to enquire about my case,” said Rabiul, who, however, had to return with no information.

Around 63.66 lakh voters, nearly 8.3 per cent of the electorate, had been deleted from the rolls across West Bengal till February 28.

The state’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwala said that supplementary electoral rolls to be published on April 21 and April 27 in accordance with the order of the Supreme Court would include the names that the appellate tribunals would order to be included.

Around 63.66 lakh voters, nearly 8.3 per cent of the electorate, had been deleted from the rolls across West Bengal till February 28. However, over 60.06 lakh more voters had been placed in the “under adjudication” category, and their eligibility to remain on the electoral rolls was subjected to scrutiny by judicial officers.

The EC data showed that over 27.16 lakh voters of the 60.06 lakhs placed in the “under adjudication” category had been struck off the rolls, while more than 32.68 lakh of them had been included in the electoral rolls.   

 With lakhs of people filing appeals challenging deletions of their names from the rolls, the 19 tribunals, headed by retired judges, are likely to take weeks to decide on all the pleas for restoration of the voting rights, and only some of them could hope to cast votes on April 23 and 29.