Bengal Voter List Shock: Father’s Names Wrong for 85 Lakh, 13 Lakh Share Same Parents

Kolkata: The initial round of Special Intensive Review (SIR) underway in West Bengal has presented the Election Commission with data that appears to be beyond normal error. The new files, compared with the 2002 voter list, found massive discrepancies—including mistakes in names, ages, and family relationships. Officials are concerned about errors of this level and are investigating the matter thoroughly. 

What is strange in the name of the father of 85 lakh voters?

According to internal data, fathers' names have been found wrong, incomplete, or mismatched in the records of about 85 lakh voters. Such a large number of mistakes is difficult to understand from typographical errors alone; this raises the question of whether there was a serious technical glitch somewhere in the old digital processes or migration. The Election Commission is now directing individual investigations of every suspicious entry. 

How did the same name appear in both the father and mother columns?

The most surprising fact is that in about 13.5 lakh entries, the same name was found recorded as both father and mother. It could also mean there was a mistake in form-mapping at the time of data entry, or an identification was duplicated for multiple voters—a worrying sign for constitutional processes. 

What are the visible discrepancies in age and generational differences?

The SIR cross-check noted 11,952,30 cases where the father's age was recorded to be only 15 years or less more than the son's—a figure considered biologically impossible. Also, in 329,152 records, the age of the grandfather was found to be less than 40 years older than the grandson. Experts say these discrepancies are indicative of fundamental shortcomings in the system of list generation and verification. 

Is it normal for the same person to have more than six children recorded?

The data found that 2,421,133 cases had six or more children of a single person—a number that is unusual and suspicious. According to the Election Commissioners, such major mistakes may lead to suspicion that the same identity may have been used in multiple entries or the family records may not have been filled in carefully. Now local authorities will have to do individual verification on every possible discrepancy. 

What is the real purpose of SIR, and what will happen next?

The purpose of SIR is to make the electoral rolls accurate, transparent, and reliable—removing names of deceased, correcting double entries, and correcting family and address errors. Due to these figures, the Commission has announced that it will conduct comprehensive verification and hearings, if necessary, so that fake entries can be removed and only genuine voters can be kept in the list. Only further steps will reveal whether this problem is a technical one or an institutional one.