Several instances of violence and intimidation have been witnessed during the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls in West Bengal, due to which officials have been obstructed from carrying out their work, the Election Commission has told the Supreme Court, reported Bar and Bench on Thursday.

In an affidavit filed on Wednesday, the poll panel also sought the Supreme Court’s intervention to prevent what it described as a “systematic pattern of violence and threats” against its officials, according to The Times of India.

On January 28, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee moved the top court against the Election Commission, contending that the special intensive revision of poll rolls is being conducted in a partisan and hurried manner ahead of the Assembly elections.

Assembly elections in the state are expected to be held by April.

Banerjee also sought the court’s direction that the elections be conducted on the basis of the existing electoral rolls prepared last year.

Appearing for the poll panel, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had earlier told a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi that the Election Commission’s counter-affidavit would be relevant in the case filed by the chief minister, reported Bar and Bench.

On Wednesday, the Election Commission stated in its affidavit that the sanctity of the 2025 electoral rolls was questionable.

It said that this was because the draft electoral rolls for West Bengal under the voter roll revision exercise published on December 16 showed that the names of more than 58 lakh voters were removed from lists as they had either died, migrated outside the state or did not submit their enumeration forms.

The deletion from the draft roll is provisional and citizens can object to their names being removed from the list. Citizens whose names have been dropped from the list can file their claims and objections.

The poll panel further said that it had raised “logical discrepancy” objections against 1.2 crore persons.

Given this, the 2025 rolls cannot be used to conduct the upcoming Assembly election, as this would put the “entire election and the legitimacy of the elected government under a cloud of doubt”, added the poll panel.

It alleged that while the enumeration phase of the exercise went “seamlessly and without incident” in 11 other states and Union Territories where it was held, those involved in the roll revision in West Bengal have been “targeted”.

“It unequivocally illustrates that the challenges encountered in West Bengal are not intrinsic to the SIR process itself, but are a direct result of the inadequacies of the state machinery and the prevailing climate of political interference therein,” The Times of India quoted the affidavit as saying.

It added: “This singular and alarming breakdown demands immediate intervention of SC to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process.”

The Election Commission also accused Banerjee of “fear-mongering” about the special intensive revision during a press conference on January 14. It alleged that she “disseminated misleading and erroneous information” regarding the process and threatened poll officials.

The affidavit came a day after the chief minister walked out of a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the Election Commission chief “insulted and humiliated” the delegation that she led.

After walking out, Banerjee had alleged that West Bengal was being “deliberately targeted” and claimed that 58 lakh voters had been removed from the rolls without being given a chance to defend themselves.

Banerjee had claimed that the Election Commission was using the special intensive revision to delete voters from Assembly seats held by Trinamool Congress legislators.