Opposition parties in Bengal have jointly urged the state election commission to postpone the proposed civic polls in Kolkata, Howrah and other municipalities until revised electoral rolls are published in January 2027, warning that elections held on the existing rolls could disenfranchise large numbers of voters.
A memorandum submitted to state election commissioner Krishna Gupta carries the signatures of Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy, CPM central committee member Samik Lahiri and Bengal Congress president Subhankar Sarkar, along with representatives of other non-BJP parties and civil society organisations. The signatories have asked the commission to wait until the Election Commission’s special summary revision is completed.
The petition links the demand to deletions arising from the special intensive revision, or SIR, of electoral rolls in Bengal. It cites Election Commission data submitted to the Supreme Court, according to which more than 1.2 lakh appeals in Calcutta and nearly 39,000 in Howrah remain pending before SIR appellate tribunals.
The memorandum also points to the outcome of cases that have already been disposed of. More than 99 per cent of those cases, according to the data cited by the signatories, resulted in voters being re-included on the rolls. The opposition parties have argued that holding municipal elections before the pending appeals are resolved could repeat what they described as mass disenfranchisement.
The proposed delay would affect elections to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Howrah Municipal Corporation and other civic bodies. The municipal poll schedule has not been described in the supplied report as final, but the parties’ demand places the state election commission under pressure to address the status of voters before announcing or conducting the elections.
The unusual alignment has also become a significant part of the development. The Trinamool Congress, CPM and Congress have traditionally been political rivals in Bengal, but their representatives signed the same memorandum on the stated basis of protecting voting rights rather than forming an electoral arrangement.
Roy said the submission was not made specifically on behalf of any political party, but by opposition parties and civil rights organisations seeking to prevent “another instance of ignominious mass disenfranchisement” in civic elections. Lahiri similarly described the initiative as a platform involving political parties, NGOs and rights activists, and said its focus was on fundamental rights and the Constitution.
Sarkar called the memorandum a protest against injustice, while cautioning against reading it as a broader political alliance. He said the Congress would contest independently in Bengal but would act with others when necessary to protect voting rights.
The BJP dismissed the significance of the joint petition. Bengal BJP chief spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said it made no difference whether the parties submitted the memorandum together or separately, and asserted that the BJP remained confident about its electoral prospects.
The immediate administrative question is whether the state election commission will defer the civic polls until the revised electoral rolls are published and the pending appeals are addressed. The memorandum’s demand is now before the commission, while the timeline for the municipal elections remains subject to its decision.
