Bengal SIR: 58L names deleted in poll body's draft list
What's the story
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has released the draft electoral rolls for West Bengal, deleting over 58 lakh voter names. The deletions include approximately 24 lakh deceased voters, nearly 20 lakh who have shifted or migrated, and over 12 lakh missing voters. Over 1.3 lakh names have been identified as duplicate, false, or bogus entries. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, which started on December 4 and ended on December 11, also flagged duplicate or bogus entries.
Political backlash
Chief Minister Banerjee criticizes SIR process, alleges conspiracy
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has slammed the SIR process, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and ECI of trying to rig voter lists before elections. "If your name gets deleted, the central government should also be deleted," she said at an election rally. The ruling Trinamool Congress party has also alleged that nearly 40 election officials died during this nationwide exercise aimed at removing ineligible names from electoral rolls.
Roll details
Draft electoral rolls cover 7.66 crore population
According to media reports, the draft electoral rolls cover a population of over 7.66 crore in West Bengal. The claims and objections period starts from December 16, 2025, and goes on till January 17, 2026, with hearings until February 7, 2026. The final voters' list will be published on February 14, 2026.
Nationwide effort
Other states also undergo similar SIR exercise
Apart from West Bengal, the SIR exercise for electoral rolls is being conducted in several other states, including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat and Kerala. Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are also part of this nationwide effort to update electoral rolls by removing ineligible voters.