A big update has come out regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list before the upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal. The Election Commission has released the draft electoral roll for Bengal, in which names of more than 58 lakh voters have been marked for deletion. The release of the draft voter list marks the completion of the enumeration process of the SIR and now marks the beginning of the challenging phase of claims, objections and hearing.
According to Election Commission data, names of a total of 58,20,898 voters have been identified for deletion. The largest number of these are dead voters. There are approximately 24,16,852 names which have been kept in the dead category. Apart from this, 19,88,076 voters have been found who have permanently transferred or migrated.
In the draft list, 12,20,038 voters have been marked as missing, while 1,38,328 names have been recorded as duplicate, fake or incorrect entries. Apart from this, 57,604 names have been proposed for deletion due to other reasons. The Election Commission has clarified that the voters whose names have been excluded from the draft list can register their claim or objection through Form-6 along with the necessary documents.
This process of SIR is to be completed in three phases. Its second phase will run till February 2026, which will include claims, objections and hearing. The final voter list will be published on 14 February 2026, just before the Bengal Assembly elections.
The SIR process in Bengal started on December 4 and ended on December 11. This practice was surrounded by many controversies. During this period, discussions about migration of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants came to the fore, while Booth Level Officers (BLOs) also protested against strict deadlines and excessive work pressure. The ruling Trinamool Congress has alleged that around 40 poll workers have died during the SIR.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has strongly opposed this entire exercise and has accused the BJP and the Election Commission of conspiring to manipulate the voter list before the assembly elections. He said that his government will not allow anyone to be evicted from Bengal and called on people to take to the streets if their names are removed from the voter list. “If your name has been deleted, the central government should also delete it,” he said at an election rally.
At the same time, Bharatiya Janata Party alleges that Mamata Banerjee’s aggressive stance against SIR is to protect her alleged vote bank linked to Bangladeshi infiltrators.
Apart from Bengal, this special intensive review is also being conducted in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. The Election Commission says that the purpose of this process is to make the voter list pure, accurate and transparent, so that the credibility of the democratic process is maintained.
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