First supplementary voters' list out after SIR adjudications in poll-bound West Bengal, no clarity on deletion

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday night published the first supplementary voters' list following SIR adjudications in poll-bound West Bengal. The updated lists for each polling booth were made available on the Commission's official website around 11:55 pm.

Sources indicate that a decision has been taken on nearly 29 lakh names. However, it remains unclear how many of these have been removed from the electoral rolls. However, it was not immediately known how many of these names were kept in the first supplementary list and how many were deleted. Many reported that, though the list was made available, it could not be downloaded.

More lists will be published as the adjudication process progresses, officials said.

Security has been tightened across the state in view of the publication of the list.

60 lakh names marked as under adjudication

Around 60 lakh names were marked as "under adjudication" in the final voters' list published on February 28. Following this, 705 judicial officers were tasked with deciding whether these names should be retained or deleted from the electoral rolls.

 The supplementary list includes the names of voters whose cases have now been adjudicated by these officers.

Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Chief Electoral Officer, had said on Monday evening that around 29 lakh names have been adjudicated so far.

He added that the supplementary list has been made available on multiple official platforms, including the websites of the CEO and the ECI, as well as the ECI Net mobile application.

West Bengal Elections 2026 

West Bengal will go for polls in two phases on April 23 and 29, with the results will be announced on May 4. West Bengal's 294-seat assembly will see a fierce battle between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Mamata Banerjee since 2011, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). 

In the first phase, the election will be held in Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, Birbhum, East and West Midnapore, Jalpaiguri, Maldaha, Murshidabad, North and South Dinajpur, West Bardhaman, Darjeeling, Coochbehar, Alipurduar, Kalimpong.  In the second phase, the election will be held in East Bardhaman, Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Kolkata. 

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