Bengal SIR: Around 66 Lakh Names Likely Deleted From Final Roll
All 7.08 crore names that figured in draft rolls will appear in the updated list, categorised as 'approved', 'deleted' or 'under adjudication/under consideration', officials said.
Published : February 28, 2026 at 9:26 AM IST
|Updated : February 28, 2026 at 7:45 PM IST
Kolkata: The publication of the final electoral rolls on Saturday, following the nearly four-month Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, is likely to result in the deletion of around 66 lakh voters as the Election Commission may remove an additional eight lakh names over and above the 58 lakh voters previously removed in the state's draft rolls, sources said.
According to officials, all 7.08 crore names that figured in the draft rolls will appear in the updated list, categorised as 'approved', 'deleted' or 'under adjudication/under consideration'.
The exact number of deletions can be ascertained after the publication of the full electoral roll online, an official said, adding that they may not be accurate, as there will be additions to the draft roll name removal figure via Form 6 applications and fresh deletions based on Form 7 applications.
In the published rolls, the number of electors in the 'under adjudication' category stands at 60.06 lakh, signifying those currently being scrutinised by judicial officers whose inclusion or deletion will be determined in subsequent supplementary lists. This category indicated that total deletions in the final electoral rolls of the state may go up significantly, EC officials said.
The commission approved a total of around 6.4 crore names as "approved" voters across the state. That figure, too, is likely to go up significantly after the adjudication process for around 60 lakh voters is over, followed by the publication of the supplementary list.
Till publishing the story, soft copies of the consolidated list were yet to appear online on designated EC portals voters.eci.gov.in, ceowestbengal.wb.gov.in and electoralsearch.eci.gov.in, as well as on the ECINET mobile app.
Around 2.71 Lakh Deletions In Nadia, 1.18 Lakh In Bankura
Following the final publication, Nadia district has recorded around 2.71 lakh deletions, while Bankura has seen a net reduction of 1.18 lakh names, underscoring the scale of churn ahead of the assembly elections due in April.
In the north Kolkata zone, comprising seven assembly constituencies all currently held by the Trinamool Congress, around 4.07 lakh names were omitted from the rolls during the SIR process, EC sources said. Of these, about 3.9 lakh were removed in the draft stage and another 17,000 in the final list. However, the number of fresh additions in north Kolkata is yet to be officially ascertained.
In Bankura, where the electorate was 30,33,830 at the start of the SIR process, the draft rolls had reduced the figure to 29,01,009. The final roll now stands at around 29,15,000, reflecting a net deletion of about 1.18 lakh names, a senior district official said. For Bangladesh-bordering Nadia, the number of voters in the final roll stood at 41.45 lakh, down from 44.18 lakh. The figure had come down to 42,02,261 after the draft rolls were published on December 16.
Bengal Govt Asks Police To Tighten Security
The West Bengal government has asked the police to tighten security across the state in view of the release of the post-SIR electoral rolls on Saturday. Senior officials, including the home secretary and the director general of police, would be present at the state secretariat to monitor the situation during the day, officials said.
Nabanna, the state secretariat, has issued alerts to police superintendents in North and South 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Nadia and districts in north Bengal. "The offices of the DGP and the inspector general of police instructed all units to remain on 'extreme readiness'. All units have been asked to stay in a state of extreme readiness in view of the publication of the final SIR list," the official said.
The Nabanna control room has also been directed to stay on alert so that "immediate action can be taken upon receiving any report of unrest from any part of the state", he said further.
SIR, the first statewide exercise since 2002, was conceived as a statutory clean-up ahead of a major election. Draft rolls published on December 16 showed the electorate shrinking from 7.66 crore to 7.08 crore, with over 58 lakh names deleted due to death, migration, duplication, or untraceability.
The second phase covered hearings for 1.67 crore electors — 1.36 crore flagged for "logical discrepancies" and 31 lakh lacking mapping. The EC maintains the exercise is "routine and necessary to ensure accuracy".
The publication follows months of scrutiny, hearings, and political sparring over the statewide revision — the first such exercise since 2002. Supplementary rolls are expected to be issued in phases as adjudication of pending cases continues. The rolls will be made available at district and sub-divisional offices, polling booths and on the commission's website.
Poll Dates Likely In March, Voting May Be In Three Phases
The dates for the Assembly elections are likely to be announced in the second week of March, an official in the state CEO office said on Saturday. "There is a strong possibility that the election schedule will be announced in the second week of March," he said.
There has also been sustained speculation over the number of phases in which the polls would be conducted. "Voting is likely to be conducted in not more than three phases," he said, adding that the team of the Election Commission will not visit the state on March 1. "The poll panel's visit could take place after the 'Holi' and 'Doljatra' festivals conclude," he said.
As per established practice, a full bench of the EC visits a poll-bound state before the announcement of polling dates. The commission's full bench has already visited Tamil Nadu and Assam, but has yet to do so in West Bengal.
The official said the full bench may visit the state after the final voter list is published. If that timeline holds, an official announcement of the Assembly poll schedule could come by mid-March, he added.
Voter Count Stands At Over 7.04 Crore: CEO
West Bengal's voter count in post-SIR electoral rolls stood at over 7.04 crore after deletions and additions during the revision exercise, Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal said. The electoral roll revision process led to the deletion of over 5.46 lakh electors through Form-7 and inclusion of more than 1.82 lakh voters via Form-6 and Form-6A submissions, Agarwal told reporters.
"Over 58 lakh enumeration forms were not received during the revision process, including cases of deceased, shifted and duplicate electors," he said.
What ECI Says:
The ECI said that despite huge resistance, West Bengal SIR is successful.
The CEO WB hands over 61 Lakh doubtful cases for adjudication in West Bengal. They can only vote if approved by Judges for supplementary list. The ECI finds 61 Lakh doubtful voters in West Bengal and hands them over to judges for adjudication. Only approved cases can be added by way of a supplementary list later.
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