Nearly 91 lakh names have been deleted from electoral rolls in West Bengal following the SIR exercise, ahead of the crucial Assembly elections in the state.And now, the Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to ensure deleted voters who are cleared by the appellate tribunals, are included in the electoral rolls before the polls.

The appellate tribunals now face the daunting task of settling as many as possible of these 34 lakh-plus appeals. First phase of election will be held on April 23 and the supplementary list would have to be updated by April 21.

For the second phase on April 29, the last date for updating the list is April 27So the fate of ineligible voters who had applied to the 19 appellate tribunals now hangs in the balance...