SIR and Record Voter Turnout in West Bengal

April 25, 2026

Abhishek Vij

Voting took place in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu on Thursday. While voting took place in all 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, the elections in West Bengal are being conducted in 2 phases. Tamil Nadu recorded a historic voter turnout of 84.41%—the highest in its history.

However, we will focus on the voting that took place in West Bengal and the irony surrounding those individuals who were excluded from the voter lists during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. In West Bengal, during the first phase of elections held for 152 seats, voters set a new record by achieving a remarkable 92% turnout, despite the scorching heat.

Elections in West Bengal are historically known for their intense and often volatile nature. This time, too, there were scattered incidents of violence. In Murshidabad, an attack was carried out using crude bombs. A clash ensued between Trinamool Congress supporters and former MLA Humayun Kabir, who had arrived at the scene. In Kumarganj, a BJP candidate was chased down and beaten. The second phase of voting in West Bengal is scheduled for April 29.

Prior to the elections, the uproar surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in West Bengal was unprecedented. Much of the discussion centered on a Supreme Court ruling stating that individuals whose names had been struck from the lists could file petitions in court seeking revision; furthermore, if their petitions were accepted for hearing by the court at least two days prior to the polling date, they would be permitted to cast their votes. Now that the first phase of voting has concluded, a review of these revision petitions reveals a stark reality: applications from 2.7 million voters were pending, yet only 650 of these were considered, and out of those, merely 139 individuals were ultimately granted permission to vote.

The Election Commission published two separate lists on its website; one of these specifically listed those individuals whose names were reinstated in the voter rolls following court approval. This time around, a massive contingent of security forces has been deployed across West Bengal to ensure that the voting process is conducted peacefully. The enthusiasm displayed by voters during the polling in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu clearly demonstrates the immense faith Indian voters place in the democratic process and the power of the ballot. Experts suggest that a high voter turnout in elections is often interpreted as a mandate for a change in the incumbent government. This trend gives rise to concern for the ruling party. In West Bengal, the BJP has conducted a vigorous election campaign and remains fully confident that, this time around, it will succeed in ousting Mamata Didi’s government. While elections will continue to take place and governments will rise and fall, the current electoral climate has evolved in such a way that political parties seem to have no time to address the issues concerning the common voter; instead of deliberating on pressing problems such as inflation, corruption, and unemployment, the focus has shifted to trivial contests—such as who can eat more fish or “jhalmuri”.

As is often the case in every election, campaigners this time, too, crossed the boundaries of decorous language. Leaders did not even hesitate to cast aspersions on the character of their political opponents. No robust agenda for resolving societal problems was put forth; yet, there was certainly no dearth of frivolous rhetoric.

The Election Commission issued a notice to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge after he referred to PM Modi as a “terrorist.” Although Kharge offered a detailed explanation in his defense, the BJP made every effort to portray the Congress leadership as untruthful. While the first phase of the elections has concluded, marked by only sporadic incidents, we now hope that the subsequent phases will also proceed peacefully and that the Indian electorate will uphold the dignity of their democracy.