West Bengal: Election Commission reveals final voter list as SIR process concludes; how many deletions?

Kolkata: The Election Commission (EC) released the final voter list in West Bengal on Saturday following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal stated in a press conference that the total number of voters in the state after the SIR is 70,459,284. He added that over 6 million people in Bengal are still in the pending category. However, their names have been included in the voter list prepared after the SIR. He also stated that approximately 6.6 million names are likely to be removed from the voter list since the SIR process began in the state.

How many names were omitted after the hearing?

Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal stated that 5.8 million names were omitted from the draft voter list. In fact, deceased, transferred, and fake voters were omitted from the list. Following the SIR hearing, it was determined that 500,000 names have been omitted. The Election Commission stated that a trial is currently underway on the remaining approximately 6.5 million names.

How many names were deleted in Bankura?

The list released by the Election Commission shows that approximately 2.71 lakh voters' names have been deleted in Nadia district since the process began in November, while a total of 1.18 lakh names have been deleted in Bankura. This underlines the widespread changes ahead of the assembly elections in April. An official said that the actual number of deletions will only be known once the complete list is published online.
According to Election Commission sources, approximately 4.07 lakh names have been deleted from the voter list during the SIR process in the North Kolkata region.

How many names were deleted in North Kolkata?

The North Kolkata region comprises seven assembly constituencies and is currently held by the Trinamool Congress. Of these, approximately 3.90 lakh names were deleted in the draft stage itself, and 17,000 names were removed from the final list. However, the number of new inclusions in North Kolkata is not yet officially known. A senior district official said that the number of voters in Bankura, which was 3033830 when the SIR process began, had dropped to 2901009 in the draft voter list. Approximately 4000 more names were deleted after subsequent hearings and scrutiny. However, a few thousand new names were added under Form 6.

How many names were deleted in Nadia district?

The official said that the final voter list now has approximately 2915000 names, representing a net deletion of approximately 118,000 names since the process began. According to available data, approximately 273,000 names were deleted in Nadia district, bordering Bangladesh, bringing the final voter list to 414.5 million, compared to 441.8 million when the SIR process began on November 4 last year. This figure dropped to 4,202,261 after the draft voter list was published on December 16.

How many voters have been deleted in Alipurduar?

Officials stated that the final voter list in Alipurduar, North Bengal, included 1,196,651 names, while a total of 102,835 names were removed from the district. Copies of the updated lists have been publicly posted in several districts. However, as of the last report, these lists have not been made available online on the Election Commission's designated portal and mobile app. Election Commission officials stated that these names were removed primarily due to mortality, migration, duplication of names, or missing addresses, while new names were added after proper verification.

How many voters are there in West Bengal?

Reports from other districts are still awaited. According to officials, the lists are being released in phases in various districts, and supplementary lists are expected to be released as pending cases are resolved. According to officials, the draft voter list released on December 16 included the names of 70.8 million voters, classified into three categories: "accepted," "deleted," and "pending/consideration." The draft voter list, published on December 16, shows a reduction in the number of voters from 76.6 million to 70.8 million. Enumeration forms were distributed to voters included in the draft voter list based on their continued presence on the state's voter list as of August 2025. Over 5.8 million voters were removed due to mortality, migration, duplication of names, or missing addresses.

How many days did it take to compile the final voter list?

The SIR is the first such statewide exercise in the state since 2002. The SIR process in West Bengal began on November 4 last year with the distribution of census forms among voters. The Election Commission took 116 days to temporarily complete the process and publish the final but incomplete list amid political turmoil, amendments to document verification rules, and legal challenges.

What happened during SIR hearing?

Of the 16.7 million voters considered in the second phase, 13.6 million voters were found to have "logical discrepancies," and 3.1 million voters were not mapped (documents matched). The names of approximately 6 million voters are still subject to legal action based on "logical discrepancies" in the census forms. Meanwhile, long queues were seen outside district election offices and cyber cafes across the state as anxious voters flocked to check centers to check their names in the updated voter list.