Kolkata: The Election Commission on Tuesday published West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), revealing that more than 58 lakh voter names have been deleted across the state on grounds such as death, migration, duplication and non-submission of enumeration forms.
Official data shows that after the deletions, the draft rolls are expected to contain 7,08,16,631 voters, down from 7,66,37,529 recorded prior to the SIR process. The revision exercise began on November 4 and concluded on December 11, amid weeks of political tension and public uncertainty over the status of voters.s
The draft electoral rolls, along with booth-wise details of deleted names and the reasons for their exclusion, have been uploaded on the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) West Bengal website, the Election Commission’s voter portal and the ECINET application. A senior Election Commission official said hearings for affected voters are likely to begin in about a week, after completion of procedural formalities such as printing and serving hearing notices and updating digital records.
According to the Commission, the deletions primarily relate to voters whose names appeared in the January 2025 electoral rolls but did not feature in the draft rolls after SIR. The deletion list is available through a separate portal, allowing citizens to check whether their own or family members’ names have been removed and under which category.
Commission sources said the largest chunk of deletions arose from what were termed “uncollectable SIR enumeration forms”, numbering over 58 lakh. These included cases where voters were found to be deceased, permanently shifted from their registered addresses, untraceable, or registered as duplicate voters in more than one constituency.
A detailed breakup released earlier by the CEO’s office showed that 24,16,852 voters were marked as dead, while 19,88,076 were found to have permanently migrated. Another 12,20,038 voters were listed as missing or untraceable. In addition, around 1.38 lakh voters were identified as having duplicate entries, 1,83,328 were flagged as ‘ghost’ voters, and more than 57,000 names were deleted due to other irregularities detected during enumeration.
The Election Commission stressed that deletion from the draft roll is not final. Officials clarified that aggrieved voters can submit claims in Form 6 along with a declaration form and supporting documents during the claims and objections period, which runs from December 16, 2025, to January 15, 2026.
Special Roll Observer for West Bengal and former bureaucrat Subrata Gupta urged voters not to panic, stating that around 30 lakh voters whose details could not be matched with the 2002 electoral rolls would be called for hearings. He said these voters would be given an opportunity to establish their eligibility before a final decision is taken.
The publication of the draft rolls has intensified political confrontation in the state, with Assembly elections expected early next year. Soon after the release, the ruling Trinamool Congress accused the Election Commission and the BJP of acting in tandem, alleging that the prospect of hearings for a massive number of voters was intended to intimidate citizens and raise questions over their citizenship. A senior TMC leader said the party would protect every voter’s rights and warned against what it termed a coordinated attempt to create fear.
The BJP rejected the allegations, with Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari dismissing the claims and saying he would comment in detail after the final electoral rolls are published on February 14, in line with the Commission’s schedule.
The SIR exercise has also been surrounded by controversy over reports of deaths allegedly linked to anxiety caused by the revision process. The TMC claimed that at least 40 people, including four Booth Level Officers, have died due to what it described as SIR-related panic. The BJP has rubbished the allegation, calling it politically motivated and accusing the ruling party of exploiting human tragedies.
