The Election Commission of India on Saturday published West Bengal’s post-SIR electoral rolls, indicating that nearly 66 lakh names are likely to be deleted since the revision began in November, while around 60 lakh electors have been kept “under adjudication” ahead of the Assembly polls due in April.
The phased publication marked the culmination of a 116-day statewide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise that commenced on November 4, when booth-level officers began distributing enumeration forms. The draft rolls published on December 16 had already reduced the electorate from 7.66 crore to 7.08 crore, deleting over 58 lakh names on grounds of death, migration, duplication and untraceability.
With nearly eight lakh additional deletions recorded after hearings and scrutiny, the total number of omissions linked to the SIR has risen to about 66 lakh, officials said, adding that the figure may shift further as new inclusions and objections are processed.
Around 60.06 lakh voters have been categorised as “under adjudication”, largely due to “logical discrepancies” in submitted forms. Judicial officers are expected to decide these cases in the coming weeks, potentially altering the final electoral arithmetic.
District-wise data signalled the scale of the churn. In Nadia district, the electorate fell from 44.18 lakh at the start of the process to 41.45 lakh in the final roll, reflecting around 2.73 lakh deletions. Bankura recorded a net reduction of roughly 1.18 lakh names, while Alipurduar saw over one lakh deletions.
Also read: EC to publish West Bengal post-SIR rolls tomorrow
In north Kolkata, spanning seven Assembly constituencies currently held by the Trinamool Congress, about 4.07 lakh names were omitted during the SIR. Hooghly district witnessed a reduction of 3.34 lakh names, with 1.73 lakh voters placed under adjudication.
Hard copies of the revised rolls were displayed at SDO and BDO offices across districts, prompting long queues of residents checking their status. Soft copies were yet to be uploaded on official portals at the time of reporting.
The commission maintained that the SIR, the first intensive statewide roll revision since 2002, was a statutory exercise aimed at ensuring a “pure and error-free” electoral roll. Of the 7.08 crore electors in the draft rolls, around 6.4 crore have been marked as “approved” so far.
The publication has triggered political sparring. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that deletions could rise further, while TMC leader Tanmay Ghosh accused authorities of “harassment in the name of SIR”. BJP leader Jagannath Chattopadhyay, however, said parties must contest polls based on the published list.
With several seats in 2021 decided by narrow margins, even minor swings in voter numbers could prove decisive in the upcoming contest.
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