According to the preliminary “final” electoral roll data published on February 28, six of 10 Assembly constituencies with the highest deletions post-SIR are Hindu-dominated, and most had voted for the BJP in the 2021 Assembly elections.
Multiple sources in the BJP said that the highest number of deletions had taken place in seats with a significant population of Matuas and Bangladeshi Hindu refugees, who are a known vote bank for the party.
“The party has been in touch with the leadership of those constituencies and has instructed them on what to do next to ensure that their names are included in the electoral rolls. The issue has also been taken up with the senior leadership in Delhi,” said a BJP leader.
Data from the Election Commission show that the Dabgram-Fulbari constituency in Jalpaiguri district has the highest number of 16,491 voter names deleted — the highest among the top 10 constituencies. Sikha Chatterjee of the BJP had won the Dabgram-Fulbari seat, defeating Trinamool Congress veteran Gautam Deb.
This north Bengal constituency was followed by three Matua-dominated constituencies — Bagda in North 24-Parganas, Sonarpur Uttar in South 24-Parganas and Kalyani in Nadia — with the most deletions, 15,303, 9,354 and 9,037, respectively.
The BJP won Bagda and Kalyani in the 2021 Assembly elections. Trinamool had won Sonarpur Uttar. However, in a 2024 bypoll, Trinamool’s Matua leader and Rajya Sabha member Mamatabala Thakur’s daughter, Madhuparna Thakur, won
from Bagda.
The remaining six Assembly constituencies in terms of deletions are Jagatdal in North 24-Parganas (8,778), Matigara-Naxalbari in Darjeeling (8,383), Santipur in Nadia (8,048), Bangaon Uttar (7,926) and Amdanga (7,558) in North 24-Parganas, and Sonarpur Dakshin (7,390) in South 24-Parganas. All six have a significant presence of BJP voters and grassroots
organisation.
Voter deletions have become a cause of concern for the BJP, as a large number of people — particularly Bangladeshi Hindu refugees — are reportedly unhappy with the post-SIR list. Since many of these voters traditionally support Narendra Modi’s party, this could pose a challenge for the BJP ahead of the Bengal elections.
Abhishek Banerjee, the Trinamool national general secretary, during a news meet on Sunday, said Matuas and Hindu refugees were significantly affected as deleted voters. He stressed that his party wanted the names of all eligible voters to be included in the rolls.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, however, claimed that those people, including Matuas and Hindu refugees who had applied for citizenship under CAA-2019, need not worry, as their names would be included in the list once their citizenship
is approved.
“Yes, names of some of our Hindu refugee brothers have been deleted in certain places. But those who have applied for citizenship need not worry, as their applications will be approved soon, and the Union home ministry will communicate the list directly to the Election Commission. I request those who are yet to apply for citizenship to do so at the earliest,” said Adhikari.
Political scientist Biswanath Chakraborty said that if Adhikari’s assurances do not work, the BJP may have to face the consequences of the SIR-driven deletions of Matua and Bangladeshi Hindu refugee voter names.