![\"Bengal\u2019s](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-130456294,imgsize-357480,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/wb-polls-first-phase-voting.jpg\" "\\"<p>.<\/p>\\"")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhen the first vote is cast at 7 am today to decide who will be governing Bengal for the next five years, there will be an elephant in the polling booth: SIR, or the Special Intensive Revision of the voters\u2019 roll.More than 3.6 crore voters across 152 constituencies will be exercising their franchise in the first phase of the 2026 state assembly poll; the rest of the 6.82 crore voters in the other 142 constituencies will follow them next Wednesday. But this election \u2014 more so in the seats going to vote today \u2014 will be as much about the disenfranchisement of 27 lakh voters who will not be able to vote despite having proof of voting rights.The Election Commission has found that these 27 lakh voters have some \u201clogical discrepancy\u201d or the other. This can mean anything, from misspelt names to surname mismatches (with parents) to monks serving in missions whose legal guardians are the heads of those missions. The 16 districts going to vote today have a voting strength that is 9.4% less than what it used to be before the SIR exercise (a significant portion, probably about half, are dead or \u201cabsent\u201d or \u201cshifted\u201d voters).Nowhere is SIR\u2019s shadow longer than in Murshidabad, which has lost 7.4 lakh voters, and Malda, which has lost 4.5 lakh. It is Murshidabad that encapsulates everything that has gone wrong with SIR, originally meant to weed out nonvoters, but which has disenfranchised people voting for years.More than 4.5 lakh of the 7.4 lakh total deletions in this district happened during the \u201cjudicial adjudication\u201d phase (to determine \u201clogical discrepancy\u201d). The most drastic impact is in the Shamsherganj constituency, often described as ground zero of the crisis. Exactly 74,775 voters \u2014 representing a staggering 32% of the electorate \u2014 have been disenfranchised, sparking a legal and political battle that may rage even after the new assembly is formed.All this has taken some sheen off the electoral battles in bellwether constituencies and those involving political heavyweights. But the first phase does have these, too, in good measure: the political future of at least three such heavyweights \u2014 BJP<\/a>\u2019s Suvendu Adhikari and Dilip Ghosh and Congress\u2019s Adhir Chowdhury \u2014 hinges on how voters vote today (though Adhikari has a second chance in the second phase, as he is contesting from Bhowanipore as well against CM Mamata Banerjee).Adhikari, who has spent the last few years shrugging off \u201cdefector\u201d barbs, now faces a defector himself in his home seat, Nandigram. His challenger is Pabitra Kar, a former Adhikari acolyte with strong ties with Hindu organisations, who is credited with securing a 3,500-vote lead for Adhikari in the critical Boyal area in the 2021 election. CM Banerjee stationed herself there for several hours and alleged large-scale manipulation, photographs of which went viral (and still the subject of a court battle). Adhikari scraped through with a 1,956-vote margin. Kar, this time, may give his former mentor some sleepless nights till May 4, when votes will be counted.Over 280km away, Congress veteran Chowdhury is fighting his own battle for political survival in Behrampore. Chowdhury is a five-time MP but is now eyeing a path to political rehabilitation through the Bengal assembly after losing the last Lok Sabha poll. BJP won this seat in 2021, and the fight this time is likely to be intensely triangular, with Trinamool forming the third side (along with BJP and Congress).BJP veteran Ghosh faces a similar situation in his own home seat, Kharagpur Sadar, where he is returning after 10 years. It was his victory over former Congress cabinet minister Gyan Singh Sohanpal in 2016 that marked his ascendancy with the BJP\u2019s state unit, but he was forced by his own party to forsake the region he knew so well in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll. Ghosh will be hoping that Kharagpur backs him a second time.Another political dynasty that is looking for succour is former Congress Union minister ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury\u2019s family. The district is seeing Khan Choudhury\u2019s niece, Mausam Benazir Noor, fighting to reclaim the family\u2019s political legacy after switching back to Congress after a stint with Trinamool and a term in the Rajya Sabha. But this district, too, is likely to see a tripolar fight \u2014 and arithmetic can be slippery in such contests.Many of the 16 districts that go to the polls today \u2014 from Darjeeling in the Hills to East Midnapore on the Bay of Bengal\u2019s shores \u2014 have been BJP strongholds, and the party would be betting on SIR deletions to keep it that way. Nine of these 16 districts \u2014 Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Malda and Bankura \u2014 gave BJP 38 (of a total 66), which ultimately helped it reach the 77-seat figure it had in the last assembly.But the voter anger and the consequent anti-BJP consolidation visible outside polling booths across districts may also have something to offer to Trinamool at the EVMs. How much that anger transforms into anti-BJP votes and the number of seats to which Trinamool can restrict BJP in these 16 districts can well shape the configuration of the next Bengal assembly.<\/p>\n Nandigram<\/span>Adhikari, who has spent five years shrugging off defector barbs after switching from TMC, now faces a defector himself. Adhikari defeated CM Mamata Banerjee here in 2021 by 1,956 votes. His one-time confidant, Kar, is his TMC challenger. Identity politics continues to dominate the landscape, with demographics expected to play a critical role. The 2011 Census recorded Hindus at 65.8% and Muslims at 34% of the population here. But under SIR, 12,500 Muslim voters were removed. Sabar Institute says gross deletions in Nandigram stand at 14,462, with Muslim voters accounting for 95.5% of deletions. Key issues on the ground, say residents, is haphazard development symbolised by, among other things, a standing structure for a railway station but with no rail link to the area.Past Winners : 2011 (TMC), 2016 (TMC), 2021 (BJP)Kharagpur Sadar<\/span>Ghosh returns to this assembly seat after 10 years even as he battles to reclaim his standing within BJP. A former state BJP president, he first gained prominence here in 2016 by defeating Congress MLA Gyan Singh Sohanpal. The challenge this time for contestants in this constituency with historically narrow victory margins is the massive voter roll purge \u2014 analysis by Sabar Institute shows gross deletions under the Special Intensive Revision at over 60,730 voters. Ghosh\u2019s primary challenger this time around is Trinamool ,<\/span>rather than Congress. BJP retained the seat in 2021 but its winning candidate in the last election, Hiran Chatterjee, has moved to another constituency. Ghosh now faces the Trinamool\u2019s Pradip Sarkar<\/a>, who is stressing on his local roots and has questioned why BJP has moved out past representatives from the seat.Past Winners: 2011 (Cong), 2016 (BJP), 2021 (BJP)<\/span>Malatipur<\/span>It\u2019s a three-way fight for this seat in the heart of Malda that pits the endurance of political dynasties against the might of state welfare. Once a Congress stronghold, the seat is now the focus of an emotional and mathematical battle as Mausam Benazir Noor \u2014 banking on the legacy of her uncle ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury \u2014 returns to Congress after a seven-year stint with Trinamool. Her biggest challenger is Trinamool\u2019s Abdur Rahim Boxi, who won here in 2021 by over 91,000 votes. Boxi is banking on TMC\u2019s direct welfare delivery, arguing that CM Banerjee has inherited the developmental ethos once championed by the Khan Choudhury family. BJP\u2019s Ashish Das would be looking to build on the party\u2019s success in the 2024 Malda North Lok Sabha seat. The minority vote in this Muslim-majority seat (over 60% of voters) had consolidated behind TMC in 2021, but that vote bank now faces a potential split \u2014 which could favour BJP \u2014 with Mausam Noor\u2019s return.Past Winners: 2011 (RSP), 2016 (Cong), 2021 (TMC)Siliguri<\/span>This North Bengal seat has transitioned from being a Left bastion for 30 years to a BJP stronghold now. In 2016, the Left reclaimed the seat from Trinamool, but a decisive shift occurred in 2021, when Shankar Ghosh, a former CPM leader, won it for the BJP with a margin of over 35,000 votes over Trinamool\u2019s Om Prakash Mishra. The 2026 election centres on the demand for a separate Siliguri district. Currently, the city is split between Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, forcing residents to travel up to 50-80km for administrative tasks. Deb, the Trinamool candidate and mayor, has proposed a 12-point roadmap for driving the separate district demand. Ghosh is offering a master plan for infrastructure and smart city development. According to Sabar Institute, gross SIR deletions in Siliguri is 42,979 voters.Past Winners: 2011 (TMC), 2016 (CPM), 2021 (BJP)Dinhata<\/span>This border constituency about 700km north of Kolkata is a crucible of geography, migration, and contested control over land. Historically a stronghold of Forward Bloc patriarch Kamal Guha, the region has transitioned from the bloody intra-Left clashes to a fierce modern-day duel between Trinamool\u2019s Udayan Guha and a rising BJP. The 2026 contest between state minister Guha and BJP\u2019s Ajay Ray is framed by a legacy of structural violence. The Rajbanshi community and refugee groups hold the key to poll fortunes here. While BJP has successfully weaponised identity \u2014 citing infiltration and the persecution of minorities in nearby Rangpur \u2014 Trinamool is banking on organisational dominance and welfare schemes. Deletion of Rajbanshi names in SIR and the issue of NRC notices is bound to queer the pitch for BJP.Past Winners: 2011 (AIFB), 2016 (TMC), 2021 (BJP)<\/span>Behrampo<\/span>re<\/span>Behrampore, a Congress bastion of 70 years, is now the stage for a high-stakes triangular showdown featuring incumbent Subrata Maitra of BJP, Trinamool Congress\u2019s Naru Gopal Mukherjee, and Congress heavyweight Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who\u2019s made a dramatic return to state politics after nearly 30 years. Maitra is banking on hyper-local campaigning and a hardline narrative against \u201cinfiltration\u201d and corruption under the Mamata Banerjee govt, while Mukherjee, the local municipality chairperson, is counting on welfare schemes to woo voters. For five-time MP Adhir, it is a battle of survival, legacy and political resurrection, but he goes into it backed by a weakened party organisation. Communal polarisation is the main factor here \u2014 Behrampore has 70% Hindu voters \u2014 and campaigning has been defined by temple visits and raking up of issues surrounding identity politics.Past Winners: 2011, 2016 (Cong), 2021 (BJP)<\/span><\/div>\nHot seats<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n