Kolkata: A Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in West Bengal has led to the deletion of 9.1 million voters, triggering concern across both the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP.
The SIR exercise, which began in November, has reduced the state’s total electorate from 76.6 million to 67.7 million. With Assembly elections scheduled in two phases on the 23rd and 29th, the changes are expected to reshape constituency-level arithmetic.
According to the report, about 6.66 million of the deleted names are from districts considered strongholds of the TMC. The BJP is also said to be hit in 55 constituencies where the Matua community forms a key support base; in Nadia district, deletions are reported to be as high as 78%.
The revision has also lowered the female voter ratio, from 959 women per 1,000 men to 950, a shift that could affect the TMC’s traditionally strong women voter base.
In more than 120 constituencies, the number of deleted voters reportedly exceeds the previous election’s victory margin. In the 2021 polls, TMC won 45 seats and the BJP 20 seats with margins under 10,000 votes, raising expectations that the deletions could prove decisive this time.
