West Bengal Voter List: Over 61 Lakh Names Changed After ECI's SIR

The ECI released West Bengal's final electoral roll, showing a decrease of over 61 lakh voters to a total of 7.04 crore. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) led to the removal of deceased, shifted, and absent voters after physical verification.

Final Electoral Roll Published with Over 61 Lakh Changes

The Election Commission of India (ECI) released the final electoral roll following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in West Bengal, stating that 5,46,053 voters have been deleted using Form 7 after the draft list was published in December 2025. The total number of voters in West Bengal now stands at 7,04,59,284 voters (7.04 crore) as compared to 7,66,37,529 (7.66 crore) before the SIR exercise, showing a change of more than 61 lakh names in the list.

According to a press note by the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), a total of 58,20,899 Enumeration Forms were not received, as the poll body found 24,16,852 voters to be deceased, 12,20,039 absent, 19,88,076 shifted, 1,38,328 already enrolled, and 57,604 names were deleted based on other reasons. After the ECI published the draft voter list on December 16, 2025, the poll body added a total of 1,82,036 voters to the list using Forms 6 and 6A, and made 6,671 additions by Form 8. As per the Commission, 60,06,675 electors under adjudication were included in the final roll, The gender ratio stands at 956, the same as after the publication of draft rolls.

SIR Exercise Focused on Transparency and Verification

The main objective of the SIR exercise was to ensure the inclusion of all the eligible electors and the exclusion of all the ineligible electors with full transparency at every stage of the process. The revision process utilised a 100 per cent physical verification strategy, where Booth Level Officers (BLOs) personally managed the distribution and collection of enumeration forms, the press note said.

This exhaustive approach ensured the integrity of the electoral roll by successfully identifying and removing ineligible entries, specifically addressing deceased individuals, permanent out-of-state migrations, and duplicate registrations, the West Bengal CEO said. The ECI has advised the electors to verify their names in the electoral roll and if required, submit applications for inclusion (Form-6/6A), Correction (Form-8) or deletion (Form-7) through online or offline modes.

Political Tussle and Legal Battle Over Revision

The SIR exercise in West Bengal has been a subject for tussle between the ruling TMC government and the BJP. The Mamata Banerjee government has criticised the whole exercise, while alleging a collusion between the BJP and the ECI. However, the BJP has raised the illegal immigration issue, which the party is likely to turn into a poll plank for the 2026 Legislative Assembly elections. BJP leader Dilip Ghosh also said that CM Mamata was "rattled" by the SIR exercise.

Supreme Court Intervenes in Verification Process

West Bengal SIR was dragged to the courts, leading to a legal battle between the TMC and Centre and the ECI. Recently, the Supreme Court permitted the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to deploy additional civil judges with three years of experience and, if required, seek assistance from the Chief Justices of Jharkhand and Odisha for verifying objections. The decision was welcomed by the West Bengal government.

Meanwhile, the apex court on Friday refused to entertain a request by the West Bengal government seeking to restrain the Election Commission from allegedly issuing directions to judicial officers engaged in verification of documents under the SIR of electoral rolls in the state. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)