The analysis, based on constituency-level appeal figures, electoral-roll data and demographic information, identified a strong statistical relationship between the Muslim share of a constituency’s population and the rate of appeals challenging inclusion. It does not, however, establish the religion of every elector challenged or prove the motive behind individual appeals.
Election Commission figures submitted to the Supreme Court on September 16 showed that 38,31,429 appeals had been filed before tribunals following the Special Intensive Revision of West Bengal’s electoral rolls. Of these, 22,21,118 were filed by people challenging their exclusion or deletion, while 16,10,311 challenged the inclusion of names.
The constituency analysis found that seats where Muslims comprise more than 60 per cent of the population recorded 7.85 appeals against inclusion for every 100 electors. Constituencies with Muslim populations below 20 per cent recorded 0.80 such appeals per 100 electors, nearly one-tenth of that rate.
Researchers calculated a correlation coefficient of 0.767 between a constituency’s Muslim population share and the rate of appeals against inclusion, with a reported probability value below 0.0001. No comparable statistical relationship was found with the Scheduled Caste population share.
Malda and Murshidabad emerged as the principal centres of the pattern. Thirty-four Assembly constituencies across the two districts accounted for an estimated 6,36,873 appeals against inclusion, close to two-fifths of the statewide total.
Sujapur, where Muslims constitute about 75.44 per cent of the population, recorded an estimated 61,285 appeals against inclusion, the highest absolute figure among constituencies. Chanchal, where Muslims account for 51.96 per cent, recorded about 35,007 such appeals out of 38,564 appeals overall.
During the revision, 73,901 Chanchal electors had been sent for adjudication. Judicial officers subsequently cleared 69,731 and disqualified 4,170, giving the constituency a rejection rate of 5.6 per cent. The subsequent appeals against inclusion therefore challenged roughly half of those cleared.
Across Malda’s 12 constituencies, an estimated 58.4 per cent of appeals challenged inclusion. Habibpur, with a Muslim population of 4.64 per cent, had the district’s lowest estimated anti-inclusion share at 31.6 per cent, while Englishbazar, with a 19.57 per cent Muslim population, had the second-lowest at 39 per cent.
Murshidabad recorded 3,26,266 estimated appeals against inclusion, representing 43.6 per cent of its appeals. Evidence from Appellate Tribunal No. 11 also sheds light on who initiated many challenges. Orders dated May 8 and May 11 identify the state’s Additional Chief Electoral Officer as the appellant in cases seeking removal of electors already cleared.
Retired Justice Indrajit Chatterjee, who presides over Tribunal No. 11 covering 11 Murshidabad constituencies, has said roughly 2.54 lakh of about 6.36 lakh appeals before his tribunal were filed by the Additional Chief Electoral Officer. An independent constituency-based estimate put appeals against inclusion in those seats at about 2.61 lakh, or 41.1 per cent of the docket.
The Election Commission’s Supreme Court affidavit disclosed the statewide division between appeals against exclusion and inclusion but did not identify who filed the 16.10 lakh inclusion challenges. Questions over authorisation have also surfaced within the commission. Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu was reported to have sought clarification in August about who authorised appeals filed on the commission’s behalf and their procedural basis.
The commission has maintained before the Supreme Court that the revision did not alter West Bengal’s 2026 Assembly election outcome and has disputed arguments linking unresolved appeals directly to results. It also proposed increasing the number of appellate tribunals to accelerate disposal.
Only 1,26,194 of the 38,31,429 appeals had been decided when the commission filed its September affidavit, leaving 37,05,235 pending. Of the cases then disposed of, official figures showed 1,13,943 resulted in inclusion and 8,649 in exclusion.
