The deletion of 27 lakh voters from West Bengal’s electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and under the supervision of the Supreme Court, represents a grave negation of universal adult suffrage. By effectively denying millions their right to vote, this exercise strikes at the very foundation of India’s democracy.An April 8, 2026 editorial in The Indian Express, titled “EC failed Bengal voters, SC should look again,” sharply criticised the process as one marked by “mass deletions, procedural opacity, and a system that… shifted the burden of proof onto the very citizens it is meant to enfranchise.” The scale of the deletions is striking. When the revision began in December, West Bengal had 7.66 crore registered voters. The final rolls list 6.77 crore – a drop of 11.62%. Of more than 60 lakh voters whose eligibility was under scrutiny, 27,16,393 – over 45% – have been excluded, many despite having fulfilled documentation requirements.Also read: ‘Straight Talk’ or Partisan Politics? EC’s Message to TMC Met With OutrageThe editorial also did not spare the Supreme Court. Judicial tribunals, constituted on its directions, were meant to resolve discrepancies in voter records. However, the court did not allow these individuals to vote in the first phase of elections on April 23. Instead, it asked tribunals to formulate procedures and decide the matter over the coming months. In effect, many of these names may be restored only after the elections are over. As the editorial noted, this amounts to the Court’s “virtual acceptance of disenfranchisement in this electoral cycle.”Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.Such a large-scale exclusion is without precedent. If tribunals were unable to resolve discrepancies in time, the electoral rolls used for the 2024 general elections could have been retained for the 2026 Assembly polls to ensure that no eligible voter was deprived of their franchise. By failing to adopt such a course, both the ECI and the Supreme Court have acted in a manner that appears inconsistent with the constitutional commitment to universal adult suffrage.This development runs counter to the vision articulated by Dr B.R. Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly. On June 15, 1949, while moving the draft provision that would become Article 324 of the Constitution, Ambedkar underscored that the franchise is “a most fundamental thing in a democracy.” He warned that no eligible person should be excluded from electoral rolls due to “the prejudice of a local government, or the whim of an officer,” as such exclusion would “cut at the very root of democratic government.”Ambedkar also justified the creation of a central Election Commission, rather than leaving electoral roll preparation to provincial governments, precisely to prevent arbitrary or biased exclusions. This “radical and fundamental” decision was meant to ensure that no citizen would suffer injustice in being enrolled as a voter. The present episode, involving the deletion of lakhs of voters, appears to run contrary to that founding principle.Also read: On the Bengal Electoral Roll’s Erasure of Nandalal Bose’s Grandson…The consequences are not merely administrative but institutional. The disenfranchisement of such a large number of voters risks eroding public confidence in the ECI’s ability to conduct free and fair elections. It also raises serious concerns about the role of the Supreme Court, which, as the Indian Express editorial suggests, has effectively allowed disenfranchisement to stand for the duration of the current electoral cycle.In its 2023 judgment in Anoop Baranwal vs. Union of India, the Supreme Court itself emphasised the centrality of the right to vote, warning that even a slight compromise of this right due to bias or error within the Election Commission would amount to an attack on the basic structure of the Constitution. The present situation, involving the exclusion of 27 lakh voters, raises precisely such concerns about the integrity of the democratic process.At stake is not only the outcome of a single election but the credibility of India’s constitutional architecture. Universal adult suffrage is not merely a procedural device; it is the cornerstone of democratic legitimacy. Any large-scale exclusion of eligible voters – especially in a manner that raises questions of due process – undermines that legitimacy.Restoring faith in the electoral process will require corrective measures that ensure no eligible citizen is denied the right to vote. Without such safeguards, the constitutional promise of equal participation risks being reduced to a formality rather than a lived democratic reality.S.N. Sahu served as an officer on special duty to former President K.R. Narayanan.This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.