The Tyranny of the Algorithm: Bengal’s Election Software Crisis

In the high-stakes theater of Indian democracy, the "clean electoral roll" is the ultimate objective. But in West Bengal, that cleanup has hit a digital wall.

Between December 2025 and February 2026, the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise deleted over 58 lakh names and flagged a staggering 1.36 crore voters—nearly 20% of the state’s electorate—for "logical discrepancies."

What began as a routine data purification has turned into a constitutional flashpoint. The question now isn't just about who is voting, but who—or what—is doing the deleting.

The Problem: When Software Ignores Sociology

On February 9, 2026, the Supreme Court of India voiced a concern that many on the ground had been whispering for months: The ECI’s software is "too restrictive."

The algorithm, designed to map progeny and identify duplicates, failed a basic cultural test. In Bengali households, the difference between "Roy" and "Ray" is often a matter of transliteration, not identity theft. The middle name "Kumar" is a common staple that the software's OCR (Optical Character Recognition) often viewed as a discrepancy if omitted in older records.

The result? A computer program functioning as a digital tyrant, issuing notices to citizens because their 2002 records didn't perfectly "sync" with modern digital inputs.

The Data Breakdown

• 58 Lakh: Names deleted from the draft list (categories: Dead, Shifted, Absent, Duplicate).

• 1.36 Crore: Entries flagged under the "Logical Discrepancy" list.

• 32 Lakh: Voters marked as "unmapped" to the 2002 base rolls.

The Real System Issue Underneath

The controversy centers on Progeny Mapping. The ECI attempted to link current voters to the 2002 electoral rolls to verify citizenship and residency. However, the software’s "PDF to CSV" conversion and its strict matching parameters created a net so wide it caught genuine citizens.

Is it a technical glitch or a policy challenge? The Supreme Court noted that the tools were "eliminating natural differences." If a voter has six children, the software flags it as a discrepancy. If the age gap between parent and child is less than 15 years in the record (often due to clerical errors in the 90s), the voter is flagged for deletion.

Stakeholders: Who Gains?

• The ECI: Asserts it is merely "purifying" the rolls for a faultless 2026 election.

• The TMC: Alleges "constitutional vandalism" and a targeted attempt to disenfranchise women and migrants.

• The BJP: Demands "purification" of the rolls to eliminate "ghost voters" and illegal immigrants.

What Happens Next?

The Supreme Court has extended the deadline for claims and objections to February 21, 2026. It has also ordered the deployment of 8,505 state officials to assist, ensuring that "micro-observers" do not have the final say over statutory officers.

As the final voter list publication looms on February 14 (now extended for many), the integrity of the 2026 Assembly polls hangs on a single, uncomfortable truth: An algorithm is only as democratic as the people who code it.

FAQ

1. What is the SIR exercise in West Bengal? Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is a deep cleanup of the voter list to remove duplicates and "ghost voters" before the 2026 elections.

2. Why did the Supreme Court intervene? The court found the ECI's software too restrictive, failing to account for Bengali naming conventions and natural variations.

3. What are "logical discrepancies"? These are mismatches in names, parentage, or age gaps (e.g., a child recorded as being only 10 years younger than a parent) flagged by the software.

4. How many voters were affected? Roughly 1.36 crore were flagged for discrepancies, and 58 lakh were deleted from the initial draft.

5. Can deleted voters re-apply? Yes, the Supreme Court has extended the deadline for filing objections and providing proof of identity.

6. What is the new deadline? The deadline for the claims-and-objections phase has been extended by one week from the previous February 14 date.