On Wednesday, 4 February 2026, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made history by appearing in person before a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant to challenge the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Representing herself as a trained advocate, Banerjee alleged that the poll body has targeted West Bengal by deleting 58 lakh names and flagging 1.36 crore more under the guise of logical discrepancies.
She accused the ECI of acting as a WhatsApp Commission by bypassing local officials in favour of 8,300 micro-observers, many allegedly from BJP-ruled states.
The Court issued a formal notice to the ECI regarding these appointments and scheduled the next hearing for Monday, 9 February 2026, emphasizing that no genuine voter should be disenfranchised due to minor spelling errors.
SIR Chaos
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, aimed at purging the voter list of inconsistencies, has become a flashpoint for constitutional tension in the poll-bound state of West Bengal.
Chief Minister Banerjee argues that the process is focused solely on deletion rather than inclusion, noting that the ECI is rushing a two-year exercise into just three months during the harvest and festive seasons.
“I belong to that state… When justice is crying behind closed doors, we feel we are not getting justice anywhere. I am not fighting for my party. Please protect democracy. Please protect people’s lives,” CM told the court.
This legal challenge follows reports of widespread panic, with many voters receiving notices over minor variations in Bengali surnames such as Roy and Ray or Dutta and Datta.
The TMC government contends that the ECI has ignored valid documents like Aadhaar and domicile certificates, leading to the reported deaths of over 100 booth-level officers due to the extreme work pressure and harassment.
Mamata Banerjee VS ECI
During the dramatic hearing, the ECI defended its actions by stating that the West Bengal government had failed to provide the necessary Class II officers for verification, forcing the appointment of micro-observers to maintain the timeline.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta further alleged an atmosphere of hostility towards election officials in the state. However, Chief Justice Surya Kant intervened to offer a practical solution, suggesting that if the state provides a team of Group B officers well-versed in the local dialect, the micro-observers could be relieved.
The Chief Justice also noted that Tagore is Tagore, regardless of spelling variations, and cautioned the ECI to act sensitively. Senior Advocate Shyam Divan added that nearly 88 lakh voters remain flagged with only 11 days left before the final roll publication, making a fair hearing for all nearly impossible.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
At The Logical Indian, we believe that the right to vote is the heartbeat of a democracy and should never be silenced by bureaucratic rigidness. While maintaining an accurate voter list is necessary, a process that views regional linguistic nuances as logical discrepancies risks alienating millions of legitimate citizens.
It is heartening to see the highest court acknowledge that dialectal differences must not lead to disenfranchisement. We advocate for a transparent dialogue where the state and central authorities collaborate to protect the sanctity of the electoral process.
A democracy is only as strong as the faith its citizens have in the ballot box, and that faith must be guarded with empathy and procedural fairness.
