Bengal booth revamp hits PSU roadblock

Mackintosh Burn, a state government PSU, has pleaded in a letter to the West Bengal CEO seeking exemption from undertaking booth infrastructure overhaul in the state. Mackintosh, in its reply to a strongly-worded letter by the CEO, said the company is unable to handle the infrastructure overhaul of over 80,000 polling booths in the state, ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.

The company has reportedly pleaded that since there is no agreement with the Election Commission (EC), they be allowed to withdraw without penal action, sources told ET. West Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal had sent a stern letter to Mackintosh Burn, a state-owned civil engineering and construction company, under the public works department, for its alleged refusal to undertake overhaul of the infrastructure in polling booths. Agarwal had warned the board of directors that criminal proceedings would be taken in case the company refused to execute work related to booth infrastructure ahead of next year's assembly polls.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission is likely to announce pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list on Monday in several states, including West Bengal, a top official told ET.


Other poll-bound states include Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry, where the SIR exercise is likely to begin next week.