Key Points:
The West Bengal Assembly elections are expected to happen soon in 2026, and EC officials have directed BLOs to finalise the electoral rolls.
EC has made it clear in its directive that no ineligible, illegal or dead voter remain in the final list.
EC has extended Kerala’s SIR to December 18, 2025 following a SC directive; the remaining 11 states/UTs have till December 11, 2025.
With the Supreme Court granting an extension of a week to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across the country, Election Commission officials are working hard to finish it by the December 11, 2025 deadline. The SIR Phase 2 drive was initially supposed to be completed by December 4, 2025. The extension comes in favour of the states’ requests as BLOs (Booth Level Officers) are facing severe pressure.
The West Bengal Assembly elections are expected to happen in March- April 2026. The Election Commission has directed its staff to expedite the process. EC Officials are taking numerous measures such as utilizing special softwares and tallying death records data available within banks, local civic bodies, cemeteries, crematoria, family pension data, welfare scheme data and other official sources to finalise the electoral rolls.
EC has directed its West Bengal officials to take strict measures in removing ineligible, illegal and dead voters. Its directive follows the government’s decision to have an error free electoral roll.
Measures have also been taken to detect fake or fraudulent voters, and remove them from the list. Officials have implemented the use of technological advancements such as biometrics and facial recognition to follow the EC’s directive. The combination of these tasks has put an extreme burden on BLOs. Kerala had requested the Supreme Court earlier this week to increase the enumeration phase deadline.
West Bengal State Election Commission Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal on Thursday had directed BLOs to make sure that all corrections are completed by December 11, 2025. He instructed them to ensure that only legal and eligible voters remain on the list, and also warned them of legal action if the steps were not followed diligently.
TMC is, however, adamant on its claims that SIR is going to remove genuine voters from the list. It has also stressed on the unrealistic deadline of the process, in addition to the BLOs facing extreme burden. On Friday, TMC Spokesperson Kunal Ghosh asked why the EC officials are putting burden on BLOs and issuing warnings to favour the BJP.
The Supreme Court directed Kerala government on December 2, 2025 to submit its request to the EC. On Friday, December 5, 2025, a meeting was held between Kerala government officials and EC officials and it was decided that a week's further extension will be given to the Kerala government. Following the SC directive and EC order, the new deadline for Kerala’s SIR is now December 18, 2025. It is to be noted that this extension is for Kerala only.
According to the Election Commission of India’s press release on November 4, 2025, the SIR Phase 2 drive commenced on the same day. It is supposed to cover 9 states and 3 Union Territories of India. It was implemented after the successful completion of SIR in Bihar, facilitating the successive elections that happened from 6 November to 11 November, 2025.
(Rh/GP)
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