Bengali migrants in New Delhi are returning to their home districts ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections after reports suggested that those who fail to vote could risk being removed from future electoral rolls. Many migrants said they had found errors or missing names in the voter lists following the recent revision exercise, prompting them to travel back not only to cast their votes on April 23 and 29 but also to verify or correct their registration before the April 19 deadline.

Some migrants shared personal difficulties. One labourer said his name was still missing from the voter list, with only one of his four brothers included while the others were being treated as “foreigners.” He added that large numbers of people planning to return home had made travel arrangements challenging. Others noted that while some names had been included, many were delayed, leaving limited time for corrections.

Another migrant from Cooch Behar said she would return home with her family to vote and believed such issues were more common in the past, though she acknowledged that some relatives had previously faced deletion from voter rolls. A third migrant said his own name remained on the list but his wife’s had been removed without explanation, adding that similar cases were affecting others in his family.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticised the Special Intensive Revision process, alleging a nexus between the Election Commission and the BJP aimed at disenfranchising voters. The Supreme Court, however, observed that the revision process had largely proceeded smoothly in other states, with minimal legal disputes outside West Bengal.

The revision exercise has significantly reduced the number of registered voters in the state, with over 61 lakh names affected. According to the Election Commission, more than 60 lakh electors remain under adjudication, and a supplementary list has been released. The developments come amid rising political tensions ahead of the two-phase elections, with results set to be announced on May 4.