The draft electoral rolls released on Tuesday, December 16, indicate a decline in the state’s electorate from approximately 7.66 crore to over 7.08 crore, due to name removals attributed to reasons like death, permanent migration, duplication, and non-submission of enumeration forms.
The EC emphasized that this process is provisional and open to appeals.
The most pronounced churn is visible in north Bengal, where all seven districts reported substantial deletions, especially in border and urban areas.
EC sources suggested that around 31,181 names may be removed from Siliguri, with nearly 17,321 deletions anticipated in Kalimpong.
Jalpaiguri district has emerged as one of the worst-hit areas. In the Dabgram-Phulbari seat, which comprises about 3.25 lakh voters, as many as 38,395 names are expected to be removed, including over 12,000 identified as deceased and nearly 19,000 marked as untraceable, according to EC sources.
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The Mal seat could lose 21,127 voters, while Jalpaiguri Sadar, Rajganj, Nagrakata, and Dhupguri also reported deletions in the five figures. Many of these constituencies are represented by the TMC, while Dabgram-Phulbari, Maynaguri, and Nagrakata are held by the BJP.
In Alipurduar district, which contains five assembly seats, over 95,267 voters are set to be removed, with nearly half categorized as deceased, as per EC sources.
District election officials noted that these deletions might be partially counterbalanced by new voter registrations in the final revision.
Cooch Behar saw around 1.13 lakh deletions, with the highest figures coming from Dinhata (16,442) and Sitai (15,999), both of which are border constituencies.
State minister Udayan Guha, representative of Dinhata, mentioned that higher voter counts typically lead to greater numbers of deceased and shifted voters. Conversely, BJP leader Malati Rava claimed that the process has exposed “fake voters,” a long-standing allegation from various parties.
The Gangarampur and Tapan seats in Dakshin Dinajpur, both held by the BJP, are among the most impacted, while the TMC-held Kumarganj has seen the lowest deletions in the district.
The predominantly Muslim Murshidabad district, which borders Bangladesh and encompasses over 57 lakh voters, experienced approximately 2.78 lakh deletions.
In Malda, several border constituencies, including Kaliachak, Sujapur, Englishbazar, and Habibpur, may see deletions ranging from 12,000 to 20,000 each, according to EC sources. Overall, this district has seen over two lakh names deleted from nearly 32 lakh voters since the initiation of the SIR process.
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The second largest district-wise impact was recorded in North 24 Parganas, which contains 31 assembly seats, with over 7.92 lakh names deleted.
Out of these, more than 3.08 lakh were marked as deceased, 2.18 lakh were untraceable, and 2.45 lakh were permanently relocated.
In Matua-community dominated constituencies such as Bangaon Uttar, Bangaon Dakshin, Swarupnagar, Gaighata, Baduria, Habra, and Ashoknagar, regarded as BJP strongholds, voter deletions totaled around 1.25 lakh.
Bhatpara, a noted stronghold of BJP leader Arjun Singh, recorded the highest percentage of deletions in the state at 20.42%, equating to 31,725 voters.
The constituency is presently represented by his son, Pawan Singh.
TMC MLA Somnath Shyam alleged that these figures indicate previous electoral manipulations, a claim the BJP has refuted.
Bhatpara was followed by Barrackpore (19% deletions), Bidhannagar (18.17%), Rajarhat (17.46%), and Kamarhati (17.39%).
Conversely, Matua-dominated and border constituencies such as Bongaon North, Bongaon South, Gaighata, and Bagdah recorded relatively lower percentages of deletions, varying between 1.7% and 8.6%.
In Kolkata, the figures have added a sharp political distinction. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Bhabanipur constituency reported 44,787 deletions—almost four times the 10,599 names removed in Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari’s Nandigram seat.
North Kolkata’s Chowringhee witnessed the highest absolute deletions in the state, with 74,553, while Kolkata Port, represented by mayor and senior minister Firhad Hakim, saw 63,730 names struck off. Ballygunge (65,171), Behala East and West (over 52,000 each), Shyampukur (42,303), and Tollygunge (35,309) also noted significant deletions.
In south Kolkata, four assembly segments—Bhabanipur, Kolkata Port, Ballygunge, and Rashbehari—experienced over 2.16 lakh deletions, around 24% of their total electorate.
Among other BJP-held constituencies, Asansol South recorded 39,202 deletions, a considerable figure given that Agnimitra Paul won the seat in 2021 by a margin of about 4,000 votes. Siliguri, another key BJP victory, saw 31,181 deletions, albeit with a margin exceeding 35,000 in 2021.
Data reveals that South 24 Parganas, which includes 30 seats and a substantial minority population, recorded the highest deletions at over 8.16 lakh names, whereas Kotulpur in Bankura district had the least at 5,678.
Union minister Sukanta Majumdar stated that the deletions underscored the necessity for the SIR.
The TMC countered that the SIR has debunked claims by BJP leaders who alleged the presence of “one crore Rohingyas and Bangladeshis” in the state, with the number of voters identified as ‘fake’ or ‘ghost’ estimated at around 1.83 lakhs.
