KOLKATA: With the publication of the final lists following the post-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal on Saturday afternoon, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Bhowanipore assembly constituency in south Kolkata recorded significant deletions—47,111 voters were removed from the rolls for being dead, permanently shifted, absent, or bogus. Additionally, 14,154 voters in the same constituency are listed as ‘under adjudication’ and await clearance from judicial officers.
During the first phase of the SIR exercise, Bhowanipore had recorded 44,787 absent, shifted, dead, or duplicate (ASDD) voters. Considering the high number of deletions in her constituency, Mamata Banerjee has already held multiple meetings with Trinamool Congress leaders and Booth Level Agents (BLAs).
The Election Commission of India (ECI) released the post-SIR voter lists in West Bengal on Saturday afternoon, concluding a three-month-long, anxiety-filled SIR process marked by political mudslinging, street protests, and legal battles. The lists are available at the offices of Block Development Officers (BDOs), Sub-Divisional Officers (SDOs), and District Election Officers (DEOs) across the state, where voters can inspect hard copies of the rolls.
According to the office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal, a total of 65 lakh voters—including 58 lakh ASDD voters—had already been removed from the draft electoral rolls prior to the SIR hearings. Meanwhile, around 60 lakh voters are classified as ‘under adjudication,’ pending judicial review, because the Commission, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) were uncertain whether these voters should be included. Following the Supreme Court’s intervention, judicial officers were tasked with deciding the status of these voters.
The final rolls include 7.08 crore voters who had appeared in the pre-SIR draft rolls released on December 16. In the final list, voters are classified as “deleted,” “under adjudication,” or “approved.”
Union Minister of State for Education and former Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumder told the media, “The post-SIR draft rolls recorded 24 lakh dead out of the 65 lakh deleted voters so far. The Trinamool Congress has previously won elections with false votes against these dead voters. This time, it will be difficult for the ruling party to manipulate this machinery.”
Over six lakh voters have been deleted from the final electoral rolls in two key electoral districts, Kolkata North and Kolkata South, which include Bhowanipore. In Kolkata North, more than four lakh names have been removed, while Kolkata South saw around 2.15 lakh deletions.
In West Bengal, December 11 was the last date for submitting Enumeration Forms (EFs) under the SIR exercise. Earlier data released by the national poll panel showed wide variations across assembly segments, from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Bhowanipore constituency to Nandigram in East Midnapore, where Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari contested on a BJP ticket against Mamata in the 2021 assembly polls.
Earlier reports by The New Indian Express revealed discrepancies in voter deletions across several constituencies in Kolkata, South 24 Parganas, and North 24 Parganas. Chowringhee Assembly constituency in Kolkata recorded the highest number of uncollectable EFs in the state at 74,505, followed by Jorasanko with 67,578.
The abnormally high number of uncollectable forms in constituencies such as Chowringhee, Jorasanko, Kolkata Port, Ballygunj, and Bhowanipore—where Mamata Banerjee contested and won the 2021 bypoll—raised concerns among Commission officials. Kolkata Port alone has approximately 32,378 voters in the ‘under adjudication’ category.
The primary reasons for EFs being deemed uncollectable are categorized as ASDD, which includes voters who are dead, permanently shifted to another location or constituency, untraceable, absent, or duplicates enrolled at multiple polling stations or having fake entries.