The Election Commission (EC) has said that 9.083 million voters have been removed from West Bengal’s electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The EC also noted that, as the election schedule is underway, fresh additions to the voter list will not be permitted under the rules.
West Bengal, governed by the Trinamool Congress under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is set to vote in two phases on April 23 and April 29 for its 294 Assembly constituencies, with results due on May 4. The SIR process began across the state in November last year, before the election dates were announced, and the ruling party moved the Supreme Court challenging the exercise.
The EC released the final voter list on February 28, in which 6.366 million names were deleted, bringing the electorate down from 76.6 million to 70.4 million—about 8.3% of voters. Separately, 6.006 million voters were kept out of the final list due to what officials described as “logical inconsistencies”.
Following objections filed by voters, tribunal judges constituted by the Calcutta High Court—acting on Supreme Court directions—reviewed the cases and issued supplementary lists. Of the 6.006 million flagged for inconsistencies, 2.716 million names were deleted and 3.268 million were restored to the final rolls.
A senior election official said district-wise data was placed in the public domain to ensure transparency, and details for 5.984 million of the flagged voters had already been published. Information for 22,163 voters is awaiting electronic signature, and minor changes may occur once that process is completed; however, with nominations for the first phase closed, the voter list has been frozen and can be altered only under Supreme Court orders or lawful directions from competent authorities. The voter list for the second phase is scheduled to be released tomorrow, while the Supreme Court case on voter-list inclusion is listed for hearing on April 13.
