Over 58 Lakh Names Deleted As Election Commission Releases Bengal Draft Electoral Rolls After SIR Exercise

Following the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) month-long procedure, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday released the draft electoral rolls for West Bengal, identifying over 58 lakh voter names that were proposed for deletion. The phase comes to an end with the release of the draft voter list, and a process involving claims, objections and hearings begins.

The Commission has released the complete draft electoral roll following the SIR-2026. Additionally, a separate official link is available containing the list of names that were cancelled (deleted) during this revision process. Before the crucial West Bengal Assembly elections scheduled next year, the voters' list will be released on February 14, 2026. 

Ahead of the elections, a total of 58,20,898 lakh voter names have been identified for deletion from the state electoral roll. According to sources, the exact number of names marked for removal remained at 58,08,002 on Thursday night last week. 

According to Election Commission sources, the current voter rolls comprise 24,16,852 deceased individuals and another 1220,038 voters who could not be traced. Officials explained that names are added to the "missing" list if a Booth Level Officer is unable to locate a person after at least three separate residential visits.

The revision process also found 19,88,076 duplicate registrations where voters had changed addresses but remained enrolled at multiple locations. To ensure accuracy, these names will be removed from incorrect addresses and maintained only at their verified residences. Additionally, the Commission is excluding 1,38,328 fraudulent entries and 57,604 voters from miscellaneous categories from the draft electoral roll as part of its comprehensive effort to provide a clean and updated list for the upcoming state elections.

Mamata Claims Voter Lists Being Tampered With, BJP Calls It Vote Politics

The ruling Trinamool Congress has claimed that nearly 40 election officials have died during the nationwide SIR exercise. “The BJP and the Election Commission are allegedly trying to tamper with the voter list ahead of the Assembly elections,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said. 

She urged people to take to the streets if their names were removed from the voter list and declared that her government would not allow anyone to expel anyone from Bengal. "If your name gets deleted, the central government should also be deleted," she said at an election rally recently.

However, the BJP has claimed that Mamata Banerjee's reaction against the SIR was directly intended to save her illegal immigrant vote bank. 

In addition to Bengal, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh are participating in the SIR exercise.

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