Ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, nearly 91 lakh voters have been deleted from the state’s electoral rolls following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted by the Election Commission of India, triggering concerns over voter disenfranchisement.
According to official data, the large-scale revision process led to the removal of approximately 91 lakhs names from the voter list. The exercise combined earlier deletions of around 63 lakh names with an additional 27 lakh voters declared ineligible after judicial adjudication.
The Election Commission stated that the revision aimed to clean up the electoral rolls by removing duplicate, deceased, shifted, or otherwise ineligible voters, ensuring a more accurate voter database ahead of polling scheduled later this month.
Several districts, including Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas, Malda, Nadia and South 24 Parganas, recorded some of the highest deletion.
In Kolkata, nearly 7 lakh voters were removed across multiple constituencies, leading to a significant drop in the electorate in both northern and southern segments of the city.
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has alleged that the revision affected the minorities, migrants and economically weaker sections, raising concerns about disenfranchisement of legitimate voters.
On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has defended the exercise, stating that it was necessary to eliminate bogus or illegal entries from the rolls.
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