Bengal likely to get 14K new polling booths; all-party meet on Aug 29

Kolkata: West Bengal is likely to get nearly 14,000 additional polling booths ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, with the Election Commission calling an all-party meeting on August 29 to discuss the proposed reorganisation of polling stations, officials said on Saturday.

West Bengal currently has a little over 78,000 booths, spread across 294 Assembly constituencies.

According to officials in the office of the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), polling stations with more than 1,200 electors will be bifurcated to ease voting.

“Booths with over 1,200 voters have already been identified. These will be split to ensure smooth polling. It is likely that the number of booths will go up by 14,000. We will be discussing the rationalisation of booths with the political parties during the all-party meet,” an official of the CEO office said.

With the addition of around 14,000 new ones, the total number is expected to touch 92,000.

The all-party meeting, scheduled at the CEO’s office on August 29 at 3.30 pm, will seek political

parties’ feedback on the revised booth allocation.

Political circles feel the expansion will pose organisational challenges, particularly for opposition parties, which may find it difficult to deploy booth-level agents (BLAs) across the increased number of stations.

Significantly, the development comes against the backdrop of disciplinary action against four officials in West Bengal for alleged lapses in the voter list revision.