58 Lakh Voters Off The List: West Bengal Electoral Roll Gets a Massive Trim Following SIR

Key Points:

The Election Commission of India (ECI) released West Bengal’s official draft electoral rolls after concluding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise on Tuesday, December 16, 2025. The draft list shows the deletion of over 58.20 lakh names, signifying a drastic reduction in the electorate from 7,66,37,529 to 7,08,16,631 voters after the SIR.

The deletions were carried out on the grounds of death, permanent migration from one place to another, voters being missing from their registered addresses, non-submission of enumeration forms, duplicate entries, and other reasons identified during the process, as per the ECI. The revised draft roll has been made accessible to the public on the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal website, the EC’s voter portal, and the ECINET mobile application. These platforms also contain a detailed booth-wise list of deleted voters, citing the specific reasons behind each deletion.

See Also: Bengal SIR: Over 58 Lakh Names to be Deleted from Draft Voter List

With the draft list now released, the Election Commission will begin the hearing process for claims and objections from voters whose names have been deleted. This process will allow affected individuals to seek correction or reinstatement following document verification and will continue till January 15, 2026. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on February 14, 2026, after the completion of the hearing process, as notified by the Commission.

There have been weeks of political tension and public uncertainty surrounding the SIR exercise, which began on November 11, 2025, and concluded on December 11, 2025. With the West Bengal Assembly elections likely to be held early next year, the revision exercise has assumed greater significance, triggering anxiety among political parties and voters over the scale of deletions.

The CEO’s office released a detailed breakup of the revised draft data, which revealed that 24,16,852 voters were marked as deceased, while 19,88,076 voters were found to have permanently shifted out of their constituencies. Additionally, 12,20,038 voters were listed as missing, as they were not found at their registered addresses during verification. Cases of duplicate entries numbered around 1.38 lakh, while 1,83,328 names were identified as so-called ‘ghost’ voters. More than 57,000 names were deleted due to other complications detected during enumeration. Together, these figures amount to 58,20,898 names excluded from the draft electoral rolls across the state.

See Also: SIR Drive in West Bengal Sees Upsurge; EC Officials Direct BLOs to Take Immediate Measures to Remove Dead, Ineligible Voters from Electoral Rolls

The deletions have prompted a sharp political exchange between the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The TMC has questioned the timing and scale of the deletions and called for close monitoring of the revision process. The party has also alleged a “joint conspiracy” between the BJP and the Election Commission, claiming that genuine voters have been excluded. The SIR process has, according to the TMC, triggered panic leading to the deaths of 40 ordinary citizens, including four Booth Level Officers (BLOs), with some cases reportedly involving suicide.

The BJP, however, dismissed the allegations as baseless, defending the Election Commission and stating that the SIR was essential to detect and eliminate fake, duplicate and ineligible entries from the electoral rolls. The party accused the TMC of distorting a routine administrative exercise meant to ensure transparency and electoral integrity. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari welcomed the deletions and hinted at further scrutiny, stating, “This is just the beginning. Breakfast has just begun. There will be lunch, tea and then dinner.”

Election officials have assured that the revision process has been conducted strictly in accordance with established procedures and have urged citizens to verify their details in the draft rolls. Voters have been encouraged to participate in the upcoming claims and objections process to ensure accuracy before the final electoral roll is published.

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