Overview
- Assistant Electoral Registration Officer Mousumi Sarkar resigned in Howrah’s Bagnan, saying 'logical discrepancy' flags stem from 2002 roll data converted from PDF to CSV, a problem acknowledged in a December 29 memo by the state’s Additional CEO.
- The Election Commission appointed four additional Special Roll Observers for West Bengal and deployed thousands of micro‑observers, saying the goal is to enroll all eligible voters and remove dead, duplicate, absent or shifted entries.
- ECI sources cited about 58 lakh deletions so far, including roughly 24 lakh identified as deceased, as hearings on claims and objections continue in the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision.
- Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote fresh letters to the CEC alleging exclusionary intent, raising concerns over notices to citizens including Amartya Sen, Joy Goswami, MP Deepak Adhikari and Mohammed Shami, and claiming—without independent corroboration—77 deaths linked to the process.
- Political contention widened nationally as Uttar Pradesh’s draft roll showed 2.89 crore exclusions, with the BJP defending SIR as a constitutional, technical exercise and West Bengal opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari rejecting Mamata Banerjee’s allegations as politically motivated.