Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) SY Quraishi has cast serious doubt on the legal validity of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, calling for a thorough examination of constituencies where a significant number of Muslim voters were reportedly removed from electoral rolls. Quraishi, speaking at the Hashim Abdul Halim Memorial Lecture in Kolkata on Thursday, November 5, 2026, also suggested that re-polls might be necessary in affected areas.
“Were the West Bengal elections legally valid? In my opinion, it was not. I have said this several times; I will say it again. Now it is in front of the Supreme Court; I am hoping they will take the right decision,” Quraishi stated, as quoted by The Hindu.
Controversy Over Voter Deletions and Election Commission Functioning
Quraishi acknowledged that some parts of the election might have been valid, but stressed that areas facing allegations of large-scale voter deletions required urgent and closer scrutiny. His comments follow a historic victory for the BJP in May 2026, which saw the party secure 208 out of 294 seats in the West Bengal Assembly, ending the Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule. Mamata Banerjee’s TMC was reduced to 80 seats, while the Congress won two, and other parties secured four. Suvendu Adhikari subsequently became Chief Minister.
Beyond the West Bengal polls, Quraishi also criticized the internal functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI). He argued that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) should not make decisions independently, emphasizing that rules mandate unanimous decisions or, failing that, a majority vote among the three members of the ECI.
“The CEC is not the Election Commission. The rules first call for unanimous decisions. If that is not possible, there must be a majority-based decision among the three members of the ECI,” Quraishi asserted.
Reports from The Indian Express previously highlighted at least 14 objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over a ten-month period, concerning decisions and orders allegedly issued without their knowledge under CEC Gyanesh Kumar. These objections reportedly covered voter registration, deletion, restoration of names, access to electoral-roll software, and appeals related to the Bengal SIR (Special Integrated Revision) exercise.
The EC has consistently maintained that its decisions were unanimous and that any differences among commissioners were a natural part of the decision-making process.
Allegations of Indirect Citizenship Checks
Quraishi further alleged that the SIR process was used as a tool for indirect citizenship checks, describing it as neither smooth nor transparent. “So many questions were raised that are currently being heard in the Supreme Court. Now, things will come out clearly once their judgment arrives, regarding what went wrong and what was correct,” he added, indicating that the Supreme Court’s verdict is anticipated to shed light on the controversies.
In response to Quraishi’s allegations, West Bengal minister Dilip Ghosh rejected the claims, asserting that the election results genuinely reflected the people’s mandate. “This government has been in power for 6-7 months. People are happy. But some people are raising questions, maybe because they did not get the outcome that they desired,” Ghosh told The Hindu, dismissing the former CEC’s concerns.