The Election Commission (EC) has released hard copies of post-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) electoral rolls in various districts of West Bengal, news agency PTI reported. However, online lists are not yet available.
This marks an important step before the 2026 Assembly elections. The EC has begun with districts like Bankura, where hard copies of the updated lists are on display. According to recent reports, the revised rolls have not yet been uploaded to the official EC portals or mobile application.
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'About 1.18 lakh names removed from Bankura'
The figures from Bankura district show that about 1.18 lakh names have been removed since the exercise started there, reported PTI. This accounts for over 3 per cent of votes in the district before the Special Intensive Revision began in the poll-bound state.
Hard copies of the updated rolls were displayed in districts like Bankura and Cooch Behar. However, the lists were not yet available online on the official Election Commission portals and mobile application, according to news agency PTI at 12:30 pm.
In Bankura, the electorate was 30,33,830 when the SIR exercise started on November 4 last year. By the time the draft rolls were published on December 16, that number had fallen to 29,01,009. After hearings and checks in the next phase of the SIR, around 4,000 more names were deleted. At the same time, a few thousand new applications under Form 6 for new voters were accepted.
As a result, the final electoral roll of Bankura, now stands at about 29,15,000. This reflects a net deletion of around 1.18 lakh names since the SIR began, a senior district official told PTI. Election Commission officials explained that the deletions mainly happened due to deaths, migration, duplication, and "untraceability", while additions were made after proper checks.
News agency PTI reported that updates from other districts are still pending.
Publication of rolls being done in stages
The publication of the rolls is being done in stages across various districts, and additional lists are expected to be released as pending cases are reviewed.
According to officials, the publication categorizes 7.08 crore voters, whose names appeared in the draft rolls issued on December 16, into three groups: 'approved,' 'deleted,' and 'under adjudication/under consideration.'
Sources from the Commission also mentioned that in parts of north Kolkata, nearly 17,000 names were missing from the approved rolls, which sparked political reactions from competing parties.
