The numbers are out for Bengal’s ‘preliminary final list’ of voters after the conclusion of a fractious Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in the state. The data make it evident that the disquiet about — public disaffection with — the SIR is unlikely to end. After Saturday’s publication of the figures by the Election Commission of India, what has come to light is that the electoral fate of 60.06 lakh voters, who find themselves in the under-adjudication category on account of unresolved logical discrepancies, remains uncertain. There are whispers that election dates may be announced earlier than expected: this would put the completion of the adjudication process under a cloud, possibly leading to a vast number of deletions. Exclusion of voters, not to put too fine a point on it, is not supposed to be the goal of the SIR: updation of the electoral roll is. Can it be said with certainty that those who find themselves threatened with an electoral purge are not bona fide voters?

The SIR data are likely to deepen the frown on the countenance of the two main electoral contenders in Bengal. The Trinamool Congress would not take kindly to the finding that one-third of names among the 60 lakh-odd voters who now find themselves in the under-adjudication category are from the minority-dominated districts of Murshidabad and Malda. Muslims have been traditional supporters of Bengal’s ruling party. The state Bharatiya Janata Party does not find itself in an unenviable position either. Figures suggest that six of the 10 assembly seats with the highest number of deletions after the SIR not only have sizeable presence of Hindus but also had voted for the BJP five years ago: the Dabgram-Fulbari constituency in Jalpaiguri district is a case in point. The spectre of deletion of names among Matuas — Hindu refugees from Bangladesh who have usually supported the saffron party — can lead to a backlash that the BJP may find difficult to contain. Would its plank of application of citizenship through the Citizenship (Amendment) Act have enough takers? That the SIR will remain as one of the principal issues in this assembly election is now certain. Mamata Banerjee has already announced she will organise a dharna in Calcutta to protest against an arbitrary and exclusionary SIR. Ms Banerjee’s intention to gain the first mover’s advantage underlines the SIR’s potency as an electoral issue.