Electoral rolls for phase-one of polling on April 23 now frozen.
The Election Commission had earlier deleted 58.25 lakh voters
marked as dead,
absent, shifted or duplicate from the draft rolls that were published in December last year.
This brings down the total number of electors in West Bengal to 7.04 crore from 7.66 crore. An additional five lakh voters were deleted from the final rolls published on February 28.
That brings the total deletion of voters from Bengal’s electoral rolls at slightly below 91 lakh.
A district-wise list of eligible and ineligible voters stated that of the 60.06 lakh voters marked under adjudication, 27,16,393 voters were found ineligible
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EC sources say the district-wise data has now been placed in the public domain to ensure complete accountability.
Once the pending procedural formalities, including e-signatures, are completed, there may be marginal changes in both deletion and inclusion figures.
Of the 294 seats in the Bengal Assembly, 152 seats will go to the polls on April 23 in the first phase.
The second phase of voting is on April 29th.
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain the Bengal government’s plea to direct the 19 appellate tribunals to pass interim orders allowing at least certain categories of excluded voters to vote, saying “we do not want to rush it”.
The BJP leaders in Delhi asserted that the revision exercise has been carried out in a phased and transparent manner in West Bengal like all other states.
Welcome to West Bengal’s poll season 2026.
To start with it looks like a big Pandora’s Box. At one point as many as 11 Trinamool Congress candidates were "unsure" whether their names are still in the electoral rolls for the Bengal Assembly polls.
Nine out of these nominees are from the minority community.
They include state industries minister Shashi Panja, state environment minister Md Ghulam Rabbani, three-terms MLA Swati Khandoker and the Birbhum strongman Kajal Sheikh alias Faizul Haque.
Three of the candidates were from Muslim-stronghold Murshidabad district where over 11 lakh-plus voters were marked under adjudication in the final rolls which were published on February 28.
“Selective deletion has taken place. In one booth under Suti Assembly constituency, 400 out of the 500 voters have been deleted. In a Basirhat booth, out of roughly 600 electors, around 400 have been deleted. Who has done this? People will definitely ask for answers,” chief minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters.
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| Aappa and her support base |
The Trinamool Congress has meanwhile stunned many by naming a local former BJP leader Pavitra Kar from Nandigram, which remains one of the most high-profile constituencies.
BJP's giant killer Suvendu Adhikari, who trounced powerful Mamata Banerjee in this segment in 2021, is contesting again. Hence the TMC decision reportedly taken at the personal initiative of Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata’s nephew. remains a puzzle.
"If BJP has to win only one seat in 2026 assembly polls, TMC and Abhishek Banerjee has announced that seat would be Nandigram," remarked analyst Ramakanto Shanyal.
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| Blogger with young students - Sitai (not far from Bangladesh border) |
The highest number of deletions have happened in the Muslim-majority district of Murshidabad -- bordering Bangladesh.
In this district out of the 11,01,145 voters marked under adjudication, 4,55,137 that is Four Lakh 55,000 plus) voters were found ineligible.
The remaining 142 seats of the Assembly will vote in the second phase on April 29. The rolls for the second round will be frozen Thursday, April 9.
The lowest deletions were in Jhargram – 1,240 voters.
In Kolkata North 39,164 voters were deleted
and in Kolkata South, the district which includes the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency where chief minister Mamata Banerjee is taking on Suvendu Adhikari, as many as 28,468 voters have been deleted.
The DIR hit in West Bengal has been the worst in places like Malda and Murshidabad.
Besides being close to Bangladesh borders; these zones also grapple with river erosion and displacement.
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| Sickularism always has its argument |
Politics Full Swing
Supporters of the SIR say cleansing the voter rolls is critical to electoral integrity.
Critics argue that the burden of proof unfairly impacts the poor,
the migrating workers and the undocumented and hence alters the electorate. In some quarters - the tacit sympathy for Bangladeshi Muslims is well reflected.
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| Lovely cane works of North Bengal |
TMC supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who once claimed she would not allow SIR in he state said --
“I will have to see how many have been included and how many deleted. They have targeted Muslims, Matuas, Rajbongshis".
Analysts point out that in Bihar, around 65 lakh voters were deleted in the draft rolls from the 7.89 crore electors.
Bihar finally had 7.42 crore electors. Of course, in NDA-ruled Bihar the SIR process was concluded before the poll dates were announced.
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