The announcement of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly Election schedule has triggered a massive political storm. The Election Commission (EC) has declared that polling in the state will take place in just two phases—April 23 and April 29. While the BJP has hailed the decision as a step towards convenience, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), along with the Left Front and Congress, has launched a scathing attack on the Commission’s “impartiality.”

The opposition is questioning the drastic reduction from the eight-phase polling held in 2021 to just two phases this time. A major point of contention raised by the opposition involves the legal status of thousands of voters. They asked, “If nearly 12,000 voters in a particular constituency remain under ‘adjudication’ or have their cases pending in court, how can the election proceed without resolving their inclusion?” Mamata Banerjee has already criticized the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, alleging a “mass deletion” of genuine voters and labeling the EC a “WhatsApp Commission.”

The Left and Congress have expressed concerns over security, arguing that a two-phase poll might make it difficult to deploy adequate central forces in every booth, potentially leading to violence. Conversely, the BJP maintains that a shorter election cycle is better for the state’s administration and the public. With the fate of 12,000 voters still hanging in the balance and the controversy over the phases intensifying, the road to May 4 (Counting Day) is set to be one of the most litigious and heated battles in West Bengal’s electoral history.