The Election Commission of India (EC) on Wednesday announced that the draft electoral roll for West Bengal will be published according to the existing polling stations. The decision was taken after the State’s District Electoral Officer’s (DEOs) failure to finalise a proposal for new polling booths on time, it said.
The EC has once again postponed the deadline for polling booth rearrangement from December 11 to February 7, 2026, a week before the final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on February 14.
In a letter to the Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal on Wednesday, the EC said: “No proposal of polling stations has been received so far. The commission has taken a very serious view of the failure on the part of the DEOs… The DEOs are liable for any lack of sufficiency of polling stations for electors in theresidential colonies.”
The letter highlighted that despite repeated reminders to the DEOs during review meetings to complete the exercise before the publication of the draft electoral roll, no proposal on polling booths has been submitted.
Survey on booths
The EC had earlier instructed election officials to undertake an extensive survey for setting up new polling stations in high-rises, group housing societies, gated societies and slum clusters in urban areas with at least 250 houses or 500 voters.
In the letter, the EC directed that the proposals for the rationalisation or rearrangement of polling stations be sent for approval by December 31.
Published – December 11, 2025 01:33 am IST
