The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday published West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls after the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with officials indicating that the names of more than 58 lakh voters have been deleted on grounds such as death, migration and non-submission of enumeration forms.
According to official data, the draft rolls are expected to contain 7,08,16,631 voters, a reduction of 58,20,898 from the pre-SIR electorate of 7,66,37,529.
With assembly elections likely early next year, the draft rolls — along with a detailed, booth-wise list of deleted voters and reasons for deletion — have been uploaded on the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal website (ceowestbengal.wb.gov.in/Electors), the Election Commission’s voter portal (voters.eci.gov.in) and the ECINET application.
The list of deleted voters has been made available on the commission’s portal at ceowestbengal.wb.gov.in/asd_sir.
A senior commission official said the hearing process for affected voters would begin in about a week. The interval between publication of the draft rolls and the start of hearings is due to the printing of hearing notices, their delivery to concerned electors, and the creation of digital backups on the EC database, the official explained.
The publication follows weeks of political anxiety and public uncertainty surrounding the SIR exercise, which commenced on November 4 and concluded on December 11. The commission said the deletion list includes voters whose names appeared in the January 2025 electoral rolls but do not figure in the post-SIR draft rolls.
The deletion list is available on a separate portal, allowing voters to check whether their own or family members’ names have been removed and under which category. Commission sources said the deletions primarily arose from what were termed “uncollectable SIR enumeration forms”, which exceeded 58 lakh.
These cases involved voters found to be deceased, permanently shifted from their registered addresses, untraceable, or recorded as duplicate voters in more than one constituency.
A detailed breakup released by the CEO’s office last week showed that 24,16,852 voters were marked as dead, 19,88,076 as permanently shifted, and 12,20,038 as missing or untraceable at their registered addresses. Another 1.38 lakh voters were identified as having duplicate entries, while 1,83,328 names were flagged as so-called ‘ghost’ voters. More than 57,000 names were deleted due to other complications detected during enumeration.
In total, 58,20,898 names were excluded from the draft rolls. After these deletions, the draft electoral roll is expected to carry the names of 7,08,16,631 voters across the state.
The Election Commission emphasised that deletion from the draft roll is not final. “Aggrieved persons can submit their claims in Form 6 along with the Declaration Form and supporting documents after publication of the draft roll during the period fixed for receiving claims and objections, from December 16, 2025, to January 15, 2026,” an EC official said.
Special Roll Observer for West Bengal and former bureaucrat Subrata Gupta sought to allay public fears, urging voters whose names do not appear in the draft list not to panic.
He said around 30 lakh voters whose details could not be matched with the 2002 electoral rolls would be called for hearings, where they would be given an opportunity to produce documents and establish eligibility before a final decision is taken.
The draft rolls had begun appearing on the Booth Level Officer (BLO) application a day before their formal publication, triggering intense political debate. After Tuesday’s release, the commission advised voters to verify their names through online portals or offline by visiting their local BLOs.
Hard copies of the draft rolls will be available with BLOs at the booth level, and officials have been asked to remain present at booths as far as possible on the day of publication. Soft copies will also be provided to representatives of the state’s eight recognised political parties.
The release of the draft rolls has further sharpened political fault lines in the state. Soon after publication, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleged a “joint conspiracy” by the BJP and the Election Commission, claiming that the prospect of “hearings for nearly two crore voters” was an attempt to intimidate citizens and question their citizenship.
A senior TMC leader said the rights of every voter would be protected and warned against what the party described as a “coordinated effort to create fear”.
The BJP rejected the allegations. Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, mocked the charge, saying, “This is just the beginning. Breakfast has just begun. There will be lunch, tea and then dinner.” While refraining from citing fresh figures on deletions, Adhikari said he would comment after the final rolls are published on February 14, in line with the commission’s schedule.
The SIR process has also been accompanied by allegations of “SIR-related panic” following reports of deaths in parts of the state. According to the TMC, 40 ordinary citizens, including four BLOs, have so far died due to SIR panic, including cases of suicide.
The BJP has dismissed claims linking citizen deaths to the SIR exercise as “politically motivated”, alleging that the ruling party is attempting to “cash in on human tragedies”.