Whoever wins in West Bengal, the EC and the Court have raised questions that will linger on. 3 min read Apr 30, 2026 06:05 AM IST First published on: Apr 30, 2026 at 06:05 AM IST After voting in the West Bengal election drew to a close on Wednesday, the spotlight has shifted to the results on May 4. At the same time, a heavy shadow has settled down on the poll process. It is the shadow of voter disenfranchisement. Eighty-nine lakh names have been deleted from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision exercise conducted by the Election Commission — the problem, however, lies not in the numbers alone but in an exclusionary process that stretched to the electoral brink, and beyond. About 58 lakh voters were deleted from the draft rolls in the first round, a second set of 60 lakh names were placed “under adjudication”, and about 5 lakh more deleted in between. Of those “under adjudication”, 27 lakh were deleted, the highest numbers in Muslim-dominated constituencies.…