SIR: ECI to delete 43 lakh names from electoral rolls in Bengal

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to unveil the draft voters’ list for West Bengal on 16 December, a key milestone in the state’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Early estimates, drawn from the digitisation of enumeration forms collected by booth-level officers (BLOs), suggest that 43.30 lakh names may be excluded — a figure that could yet rise as the digitisation process reaches completion.

According to sources from the office of the chief electoral officer (CEO), West Bengal, the bulk of these exclusions are due to the natural passage of time, with approximately 21.45 lakh names belonging to deceased voters.

Another 5.5 lakh are untraceable, their whereabouts currently unknown, while around 15.10 lakh voters have shifted to other locations. Less than one lakh entries have been identified as bogus or fake. Officials cautioned that some of the “untraceable” voters might eventually be traced, meaning the final tally could fluctuate.

Curiously, 2,208 polling booths across the state were found to be entirely free of deceased, duplicate, or shifted voters, a figure that has raised eyebrows among opposition ranks. The BJP questioned how so many booths could be devoid of any anomalies and called for a meticulous review of the corresponding enumeration forms.

Adding weight to these concerns, Suvendu Adhikari, leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, formally requested the ECI to conduct a thorough audit of the enumeration entries made on 26, 27, and 28 November — a period that saw an unprecedented 1.25 crore forms submitted.

With the total electorate in West Bengal standing at 7,66,37,529, these revisions are poised to reshape the state’s voter landscape, balancing the meticulous pursuit of accuracy with the political sensitivities that inevitably accompany such large-scale electoral exercises.

With IANS inputs