India’s Election Commission (EC) says the exercise aims to clean up rolls, but it has been mired in controversy and legal challenges since it was first carried out in Bihar last year.
Thirteen states and federally-administered territories have undergone the SIR process so far, but West Bengal is the only one where it was followed by an additional layer of special adjudication.
The issue has raised concerns among affected families, some of whom say their names were struck off despite valid documents, leaving their eligibility to be decided by tribunals even as voting proceeds.
Tensions have been fuelled by political remarks, including from Modi, suggesting the voter roll “clean-up” targets so-called “illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators” – a term the Trinamool Congress says is being used to refer to Muslims. However, officials say many Hindu voters have also been excluded from the list.
Security is a key focus, with a record deployment of about 240,000 central forces across West Bengal, supported by bulletproof vehicles patrolling poll-bound districts.
The scale reflects concerns over electoral violence and intimidation in a state with a history of politically charged contests.
Ahead of the first phase of voting, the EC imposed strict curbs to ensure security, including a ban on bike rallies, pillion riding during the day and non-essential two-wheeler movement at night across 152 constituencies.
The restrictions, in force from Tuesday, also include a 96-hour liquor ban – longer than the usual 48 hours.
West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal clarified that the extended liquor sale restrictions were not ordered by the EC, while noting a sharp “30-240% spike in offtake from 1,200-1,300 liquor shops”.
He said authorities were “looking into where all this liquor went”.
“This liquor cannot be used for inducement [to voters]. If we receive verified information on any government servant being involved in such inducement activities, very strong action will be taken against them,” Agarwal said.
The revision of electoral rolls, large-scale reshuffle of state government officers and heightened security measures have become particularly contentious in a state where the ruling party is locked in a bitter stand-off with the election authorities.
Thursday’s polling will cover seats largely in the farthest reaches of West Bengal – the northern, central and southwestern belts, which are among its less prosperous regions.
These areas also have a higher share of Muslim, tribal and lower-caste Hindu populations. West Bengal is home to India’s second-largest Muslim population, accounting for roughly 14% of the country’s 172 million Muslims, according to the 2011 census.
