Over 58 lakh names dropped from West Bengal draft electoral rolls after SIR

The EC (Election Commission) on Tuesday published West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following the SIR (Special Intensive Revision), with official data showing that more than 58 lakh voter names have been deleted on grounds such as death, migration, duplication and non-submission of enumeration forms.

After the deletions, the draft rolls are expected to contain 7,08,16,631 voters, down from 7,66,37,529 recorded before the SIR exercise, which began on 4 November and concluded on 11 December.

With Assembly elections likely early next year, the EC made the draft rolls public along with a booth-wise list of deleted voters and reasons for deletion. These have been uploaded on the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal website, the EC’s voter portal and the ECINET application.

A senior EC official said hearings for affected voters would begin in about a week. The gap between publication and hearings, the official explained, is due to the printing and service of notices and the creation of digital backups on the EC database.

Reasons for deletions

According to the commission, the deleted names were present in the January 2025 electoral rolls but do not feature in the post-SIR draft. The deletions primarily arose from what officials termed “uncollectable SIR enumeration forms”, which exceeded 58 lakh.

A breakup released earlier by the CEO’s office showed:

• 24,16,852 voters marked as deceased

• 19,88,076 voters found to have permanently shifted

• 12,20,038 voters listed as missing or untraceable

• About 1.38 lakh duplicate entries and 1,83,328 ‘ghost’ voters

• Over 57,000 names deleted due to other complications

In total, 58,20,898 names were excluded from the draft rolls.

Hearing process and safeguards

The EC stressed that deletion at the draft stage is not final. Aggrieved voters can file claims using Form 6, along with a declaration form and supporting documents, during the claims and objections period from 16 December 2025 to 15 January 2026.

Special Roll Observer for West Bengal, former bureaucrat Subrata Gupta, sought to allay concerns, saying voters whose names are missing should not panic. He noted that around 30 lakh voters, whose details could not be matched with the 2002 electoral rolls, would be called for hearings and given an opportunity to establish eligibility.

Hard copies of the draft rolls will be available with Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who have been asked to remain present at polling booths as far as possible on the day of publication. Soft copies have also been shared with representatives of the state’s eight recognised political parties.

Political reactions

The publication has sharpened political fault lines in the state. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleged a “joint conspiracy” between the BJP and the Election Commission, claiming that the prospect of hearings for nearly two crore voters was intended to intimidate citizens and cast doubts on their citizenship.

The BJP rejected the allegations. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari mocked the charges, saying, “This is just the beginning. Breakfast has just begun. There will be lunch, tea and then dinner,” adding that he would comment further after the final rolls are published on 14 February, as scheduled.

The SIR exercise has also been accompanied by claims of “panic” linked to the process. The TMC alleged that around 40 people, including four BLOs, had died due to SIR-related stress, including suicides. The BJP dismissed these claims as politically motivated and accused the ruling party of exploiting personal tragedies.

With PTI inputs