EC halts hearings for ‘unmapped’ voters in Bengal, exempts seniors, PWDs and pregnant women

Election Commission

• EC tells DMs not to issue hearing notices to 'unmapped' voters in West Bengal
• Voters aged 85+, PWDs, and pregnant women exempted from hearings
• BLAs-2 of political parties barred from hearing venues after recent disruptions

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Issuing fresh instructions, Election Commission has instructed district magistrates (DMs), serving as district electoral officers (DEOs) for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, not to issue notices for hearings to voters identified as ‘unmapped’.

The move came amid widespread criticism against the poll body in Bengal over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral roll. The poll body has also exempted voters aged 85 or above, as well as persons with disabilities (PWDs) and pregnant women, from appearing at hearing centres.

Hearings for unmapped voters had started in the State on December 27 and around 32 lakh have been identified as “unmapped” after first phase of hearing. On Sunday, Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of the ruling Trinamool Congress, had instructed party BLAs to remain inside camps during hearings and warned of legal action if they were denied entry.

In another development, the poll body has decided not to allow Booth Level Agents 2 (BLAs-2) of political parties inside hearing venues. The decision came after Trinamool Congress MLA Asit Majumder allegedly disrupted hearings in his Chinsurah constituency in Hooghly district, demanding the entry of a BLA-2. He reportedly clashed with the block development officer (BDO) over the issue.

The poll body had on December 16 published the State's draft electoral rolls following SIR. Names of over 58 lakh electors of West Bengal have been deleted in the draft electoral roll published by the Election Commission on Tuesday (December 16, 2025) for the first phase of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of the State’s voters’ lists. Meanwhile around 92.40% names have been retained, as per data shared by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal.

An association of West Bengal government officers raised objections to what it termed "suo-motu system-driven deletion" of voters in the draft electoral rolls under the ongoing SIR process, bypassing the statutory role of EROs, an official said on Saturday.