West Bengal summons 32 lakh unmapped voters for first hearings
Officials say voters with discrepancies will be addressed next, pending Election Commission guidelines, as scrutiny continues in phased manner
West Bengal is preparing to begin the first round of hearings under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of its electoral rolls, a large-scale exercise that will bring nearly 32 lakh “unmapped” voters under scrutiny. Election officials said the hearings are aimed at cleaning up voter lists while ensuring that no eligible voter is unfairly excluded.
According to officials, the first phase will focus on voters whose names could not be linked with those of family members in the 2002 electoral rolls. Hearings for this category are scheduled to begin on December 27. Notices are already being issued, signalling the formal start of what is expected to be a closely watched and politically sensitive process.
The hearings will be conducted at multiple locations to make the process accessible, including district magistrates’ offices, sub-divisional offices, government departments, and educational institutions such as schools and colleges. Officials said this decentralised approach is meant to reduce inconvenience for voters and manage the scale of the exercise.
Each hearing will take place under the supervision of a micro-observer, a role designed to ensure transparency and procedural fairness. About 4,000 micro-observers have been appointed for the task, all of whom are state government officials. Their training will be held in two phases on December 24 in Kolkata, ahead of the start of hearings.
Senior officials from the Election Commission are expected to closely monitor the process. The commission’s Principal Secretary, SB Joshi, and Deputy Secretary, Abhinav Agarwal, will visit West Bengal to assess the progress of the hearing phase under the SIR. They are also scheduled to attend the micro-observers’ training programme, underlining the importance being placed on the exercise.
However, the process has already drawn political attention and criticism. Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday raised concerns about the micro-observers, alleging that many of them lack adequate knowledge of the local Bengali language. Her remarks reflect broader anxieties within the ruling party about how the revision exercise may affect voters, particularly in rural and marginalised communities.
Election officials have sought to reassure all sides that the process will be phased and rule-bound. Voters whose cases involve “logical discrepancies” — such as inconsistencies in age, address, or documentation — will not be taken up in this initial round. Instead, they will be examined in the next phase, for which detailed guidelines have been sought from the Election Commission.
Officials stressed that the objective of the SIR is not to disenfranchise voters but to ensure accuracy in the electoral rolls. “This is a verification exercise,” one official said, adding that eligible voters will be given ample opportunity to present documents and clarify discrepancies during the hearings.
The scale of the exercise is significant, given West Bengal’s large electorate and complex demographic profile. With Assembly and parliamentary elections always looming in the political background, even routine electoral processes tend to acquire heightened significance in the state.
For many voters, the hearings will mark their first direct interaction with election officials in years. Notices arriving at homes may cause anxiety, but officials insist that cooperation, not confrontation, is the guiding principle.
As the hearings begin later this month, the focus will be on whether the system can balance efficiency with sensitivity. Ensuring transparency, clear communication, and respect for voters’ rights will be critical in maintaining public trust in the electoral process—something that remains at the heart of any functioning democracy.