Overview

• An ECI delegation led by Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti met officials across multiple districts and indicated an early‑November start, with a formal notification expected later in October.
• West Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal said no valid voter will be excluded and added that those covered in the 2002 SIR and government officials will not need to resubmit documents.
• BJP leaders Shantanu Thakur and Suvendu Adhikari claimed around one crore or more ineligible names could be deleted, describing the drive as a cleanup of infiltrators and duplicate entries.
• Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused EC officials of threatening state officers and labeled the exercise a backdoor NRC, while Matua leaders warned genuine refugee voters could be struck off.
• Following Bihar’s SIR, the Supreme Court directed legal services bodies to help omitted voters file appeals, as the ECI told the Court some affidavits alleging mass deletions were inaccurate.