Published Nov 08, 2026 | 12:01 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 08, 2026 | 12:03 PM
Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi. (ECI)
Former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi has questioned the legal validity of the assembly elections in West Bengal and stated that constituencies where a large number of Muslim voters were deleted after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise must be rechecked and re-polls ordered if necessary.
Speaking at the 11th Hashim Abdul Halim Memorial Lecture in Kolkata on November 5, Quraishi said, “Were the West Bengal elections legally valid? In my opinion, it was not. I have said this several times; I will say it again. Now it is in front of the Supreme Court; I am hoping they will take the right decision.”
The former CEC also questioned the functioning of the current Election Commission of India.
“The CEC is not the Election Commission. The rules first call for unanimous decisions. If that is not possible, there must be a majority-based decision among the three members of the ECI,” he said, adding that the CEC’s decision alone cannot be considered final.
Quraishi was referring to allegations against CEC Gyanesh Kumar who, according to an Indian Express report, took decisions regarding the SIR unilaterally, without the knowledge or despite repeated objections raised by other Election Commissioners.
Slamming the SIR process, Quraishi alleged it was used to do backdoor checks for citizenship. Referring to the large-scale voter deletion and subsequent SIR hearings, Quraishi stressed that voters are not supposed to beg for their voting rights. He said tradition in the past ensured that voter cards were delivered to the homes of each voter, and they did not have to negotiate to be included in the voter lists.
“It was neither smooth nor transparent. So many questions were raised that are currently being heard in the Supreme Court. Now, things will come out clearly once their judgment arrives, regarding what went wrong and what was correct,” he said.
The West Bengal Assembly elections were conducted in two phases on April 23 and 29 amid allegations of mass disenfranchisement, with nearly 91 lakh voters removed from the electoral rolls after the SIR. BJP came to power with a thumping victory, securing 206 of the 294 seats, while the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), which had ruled the state for 15 years, was reduced to 80 seats.
(Edited by Fayisa CA)
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