A full voter list overhaul may begin soon in West Bengal, as officials have been briefed by the state election commission to prepare for a special intensive review, claimed a report on Wednesday citing those present at a recent virtual meeting.

Two state officials who attended the meeting with the state's chief electoral officer independently confirmed to The Reporters’ Collective requesting anonymity that the process of overhauling the electoral roll may begin as early as this month.

“In the virtual conference, we were told to start preparing for it. Written orders should come soon,” The Reporters’ Collective quoted one of them.

The Election Commission of India’s SIR was first introduced in Bihar on June 24, requiring voters to be verified from scratch. The central poll panel has directed the review to be completed in three months and has also insisted on citizenship verification during the process, limiting the documents that can be submitted for proof.

“We have not been told as yet whether, in West Bengal, like in Bihar, the ECI will mandate different kinds of documentary evidence from different sets of people. It would be a serious problem if they do. The likelihood is we will have a little more time than Bihar to complete the exercise because in October we have our main festivities,” The Reporters’ Collective quoted the second official.

“While we were not told the time frame specifically, from the conversation, it seems we will also get a short timeframe for the entire overhaul. An intensive review is, going by law, an exercise of registering the voters de novo,” said one of the officials.

West Bengal has been conducting regular revisions. Its most recent special summary revision ended last year, with the final electoral roll published on January 6, 2025. Booth-level officers confirmed they took part in the process.

Unlike Bihar, where both draft and final rolls were made public, West Bengal’s finalised list from January 2025 has not been published on the state or central ECI websites. Records show that the January 2025 list has so far been accepted by the ECI for routine updates.

“We completed the exercise as scheduled. If and when the ECI orders come for the SIR, it would mean that the January 2025 electoral roll list is to be discarded as faulty,” said one official, reported The Reporters’ Collective.

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on June 26 questioned the Election Commission's new voter list guidelines ahead of the Bihar elections, comparing them to the NRC process. She accused the commission of targeting Bengal, which is due for polls next year.

“I don't understand the reason behind the Election Commission's move or the rationale behind selecting these dates. This is nothing short of a scam. I seek clarification from the Commission on whether they are trying to implement the NRC through backdoors. In fact, this looks to be more dangerous than the NRC, which every political party in opposition must resist," she said.

"There are many scams in this declaration form. I just pointed out one of them. The names get cancelled on the instructions of the BJP at the last moment. Bihar is not a factor, as only 2.5 months are left for the polls. Other states, especially Bengal, are targeted. They want to capture using the commission and agencies,” the chief minister said.

"Nothing will happen in Bihar because the BJP rules that state and the state elections there are at the doorstep. Their real target is Bengal. They want to delete the names of valid young voters. Many parents will not be able to furnish their birth certificates. They are targeting the migrant worker community of Bengal, students, villagers and uneducated voters,” she alleged.

"We totally condemn the attitude of the agency, run by the BJP itself. The Election Commission is functioning as per Amit Shah's instructions these days. He is running the country," the CM alleged.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien has claimed the ECI’s move in Bihar followed a BJP internal survey that predicted the party would win only “46-49 seats in the state”.

TMC Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra has already filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the proposed SIR in Bengal. Manoj Jha, MP from Rashtriya Janata Dal, had filed a similar petition soon after the process began in Bihar.

Nine other Opposition parties from the INDIA alliance, including the Congress, have joined in challenging the ECI’s sudden move. The Association for Democratic Rights has also raised concerns before the Supreme Court. The matter is listed for hearing on July 10.