Former law minister Kapil Sibal on 23 April launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission, accusing it of carrying out an “experiment in disenfranchisement” in West Bengal.
The senior advocate in the Supreme Court asked, ‘Why have an election?’ The Rajya Sabha MP also took a sarcastic swipe at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying he must be awarded a Padma Bhushan.
In a post on X, Sibal said, “Election Commission: (West Bengal Election). Experiment in disenfranchisement. The CEC must be awarded with a Padma Bhushan!” "My question: Why have an election?" Sibal said.
West Bengal is voting in the first phase on Thursday amid an increasingly polarised battle in which issues such as corruption and jobs have ceded space to identity, citizenship and the controversy over deleted names from electoral rolls.
Overall, 91 lakh names have been deleted from West Bengal's voter list since the SIR began. The state's voters have shrunk almost 12%, from 7.66 crore electors in October 2025 to 6.75 crore now. West Bengal had 7.34 crore eligible voters in the 2021 assembly elections.
The Election Commission conducted the SIR in 13 states and Union Territories. In West Bengal, however, it's different with the introduction of ‘adjudication’ and ‘logical discrepancies.’
A deleted voter must apply to have their name included on the list within 15 days of rejection. Offline appeals are submitted at the DEO office, which forwards them to the tribunals for hearing.
Sibal on Wednesday had accused Kumar of working in cahoots with the BJP to ensure the party's victory in the West Bengal elections, calling him a “national shame” and saying it is his “vocation” to ensure the BJP emerges victorious.
The Independent Rajya Sabha MP had also come down heavily on the BJP-led Centre and the Election Commission (EC) over the massive deployment of security personnel for the Bengal polls.
Questioning the use of the logical discrepancy argument for “disenfranchising” people in Bengal, Sibal said, “They did not use this in Maharashtra and Haryana, but are using it in West Bengal. ”
'Logical discrepancy argument to disenfranchise voters'
"They are using the logical discrepancy argument to disenfranchise voters, meaning if there is a less than 15-year gap between the voter and his/her father, his/her name is deleted, if there is more than 50 years difference, the name is deleted, and all this is done through AI," Sibal had said at a press conference here.
It is the chief election commissioner who is the logical discrepancy in this country, Sibal said, adding that nothing that the top poll official says is logical.
"His discrepancy is stamped all over West Bengal. It is a shame that we have an election commissioner of this nature. It is an absolute national shame. It is also a national shame that nobody is doing anything about it," Sibal said.
The opening round of the two-phase West Bengal election covers 152 of the state's 294 seats, including all 54 in north Bengal's eight districts and several in Murshidabad, Nadia, Birbhum and Hooghly.
They are using the logical discrepancy argument to disenfranchise voters.
The second phase of elections would take place on 29 April, with results declared on 4 May.
139 names added from deletions
The Election Commission of India on 22 April issued booth-wise lists of voters whose cases were disposed of by tribunals, allowing them to participate in the first phase of the West Bengal elections on 23 April, news agency PTI said.
The poll panel published two separate lists on its website - one of voters whose names have been included following tribunal orders and another of those who remain excluded.
As many as 139 voters have been added to the electoral roll through Tribunal orders just ahead of the first phase of polling in West Bengal, according to reports.
