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Instagram · May 15, 2026

Source-backed Mostly False Truth Percentage: 0% CORRECT

The video claims that the Election Commission of India (ECI) deployed an untested software and issued informal WhatsApp instructions for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in West Bengal, resulting in millions of voters, including a Kargil veteran, a retired High Court judge, a World Cup-winning cricketer, a Chief Secretary, and government ministers, being wrongly categorized as 'under adjudication' or having their names deleted from the voter list.

The video claims that the Election Commission of India (ECI) deployed an untested software and issued informal WhatsApp instructions for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in West Bengal, resulting in millions of voters, including a Kargil veteran, a retired High Court judge, a World Cup-winning cricketer, a Chief Secretary, and government ministers, being wrongly categorized as 'under adjudication' or having their names deleted from the voter list.

What's right

No independently supported details were confirmed by the provided sources.

What's wrong

The claim that 'On March 24, a software categorized seven crore voters in West Bengal as "under adjudication"' is misleading.
While a technical glitch on March 24, 2026, briefly showed all electors in West Bengal as 'under adjudication,' this was a display error and not a categorization by the software itself.
The total electorate in West Bengal is around 7.04 to 7.70 crore, so 'seven crore' refers to the entire electorate, but the issue was a temporary display error, not a deliberate categorization.
The claim that 'doctors, lawyers, and police officers also had their names put in the suspected voters' list' is generally plausible given the widespread issues, but specific evidence for these professions being affected in large numbers is not explicitly detailed in the provided search results, though a judicial officer and an Indian Air Force veteran were affected.
The claim regarding Syed Reza Ali Mirza and his son Faheem having their names deleted from the voting list could not be verified with the provided information.

What's debatable

The Election Commission of India (ECI) deployed untested software without written instructions, protocols, or manuals for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in West Bengal.
This software red-flagged 1.31 crore voters in West Bengal and 2.35 crore voters in Madhya Pradesh as suspicious.
An algorithm was used that relied on digitized voter lists from over 20 years ago, translated by untested algorithms, which led to misidentification of voters without adequate ground verification.
Spelling errors were a cause for names being flagged, leading to a large number of voters needing to prove their eligibility.
The ECI's top West Bengal officer sent key instructions for SIR to state officials via informal WhatsApp messages, and some of these orders contradicted the ECI's own written instructions.
These WhatsApp instructions advanced the deadline for draft lists and asked officials to mark voters absent even before the deadline elapsed, and also stated that election officers should complete three home visits in a shortened time before marking voters absent.
Many prominent individuals were affected: Mohammad Dual Ali, a Kargil veteran, was put 'under adjudication' or had his name deleted despite providing Indian Army documents.
Former Calcutta High Court judge Sahidullah Munshi's name was deleted from the voter list, and his wife, Sahana, and elder son, Iftekar, were put on the 'adjudication list'.
World Cup-winning woman cricketer Richa Ghosh was placed in the 'under adjudication' category.
Bengal's Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty's name also appeared in the 'under adjudication' list.
Two Bengal government ministers, Shashi Panja and Md.
Ghulam Rabbani, were also affected, with their names marked 'under adjudication'.
Several Booth Level Officers (BLOs) conducting SIR also found their own names in the suspected voters' list. needs independent source confirmation before it can be treated as verified.

Breakdown

The claims regarding the ECI's deployment of untested software, informal WhatsApp instructions, and the widespread impact on various prominent individuals and millions of voters in West Bengal appear accurate around the upload date of April 12, 2026. These issues were extensively reported by multiple reliable news organizations and 'The Reporters' Collective' in the months leading up to and during the West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections in April 2026.

The situation remained accurate as of today's date (May 15, 2026), as the consequences of these actions, including voter deletions and adjudications, directly impacted the recently concluded elections (held on April 23 and 29, 2026, with results on May 4, 2026). The political controversy and legal challenges surrounding the SIR process were ongoing during this period.

The specific claim about 'seven crore voters' being categorized as 'under adjudication' on March 24, 2026, is misleading because it was a temporary display error affecting all voters, not a categorization by the software. The claim about Syed Reza Ali Mirza and his son could not be verified due to a lack of specific information in the search results. [1][2][3]

Reference sources

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