CPI-M to move Supreme Court over Bengal poll schedule, alleges 60 lakh voters left out

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has indicated that it will approach the Supreme Court of India challenging the polling schedule for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections announced by the Election Commission of India. The party claims that around 60 lakh voters are still under consideration in the voter list and that announcing the election schedule before finalising these names could deprive many citizens of their democratic rights.

State secretary Mohammad Salim alleged that the pending voter list does not only affect the right to vote but also the right to contest elections. According to him, if the supplementary voter list is released after the poll schedule is declared, individuals whose names are yet to be finalised could lose the opportunity to stand as candidates. Salim said the party had already raised the issue with the Election Commission and warned that proceeding with the election without a complete list could create further complications. The controversy intensified after Naushad Siddiqui, an outgoing MLA from the Indian Secular Front, also criticised the decision to announce the poll schedule. Siddiqui urged Mamata Banerjee to consider calling for an election boycott in protest until the pending voter names are resolved. He argued that if around 60 lakh voters remain under review, the “festival of democracy” would remain incomplete.

Sources indicated that the supplementary voter list may be published within the next few days. Out of the roughly 60 lakh names under scrutiny, about 17 lakh have reportedly been settled so far. The final voter list released on February 28 contains around 6.44 crore voters, while the commission had earlier removed nearly 58 lakh names before placing another large group of voters under verification.