West Bengal deletes 58 lakh voters ahead of 2026 polls, sparking crisis
West Bengal has dropped over 58 lakh names from its voter list ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
This massive clean-up happened after the Election Commission flagged entries variously reported at roughly 1.36 crore to 1.67 crore for possible errors—some due to software glitches that made the numbers jump around during re-checks.
Why should you care?
The Supreme Court is worried about how these deletions are happening, especially since things like child marriage have been used as reasons to kick people off the list.
Over 3 lakh people missed their hearings and could lose their right to vote.
Marginalized groups—like migrants, Muslims, tribals, and women—are hit hardest, with some even being wrongly declared dead and losing pensions.
The final voter list comes out on February 14, so a lot is at stake for basic voting rights in this key election year.