Bengal braces for post-SIR rolls on Saturday as voter revision turns into pre-poll flashpoint

KOLKATA: (Feb 27) When West Bengal’s post-SIR electoral rolls are published on Saturday, it will not only update a list of over seven crore voters, but also reflect months of political confrontation, courtroom battles, street protests and a climate of anxiety that have reshaped the narrative ahead of the high-stakes Assembly polls.

The February 28 publication, classifying 7.08 crore electors as "approved", "deleted" or "under adjudication", marks a pivotal moment in an exercise that has travelled far beyond bureaucratic correction to become the central flashpoint before the polls.

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the first statewide exercise since 2002, was conceived by the Election Commission as a statutory clean-up ahead of a major election.