West Bengal: EC Releases List Of Over 58 Lakh Deleted Voters Ahead Of Draft Electoral Rolls

• The Election Commission uploaded names of voters deleted from the 2026 draft rolls, mainly due to over 58 lakh "uncollectable SIR enumeration forms.

• EC-appointed special observer Subrata Gupta said extensive discrepancies in enumeration data and logistical constraints could make meeting the February 7 deadline difficult.

The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday morning uploaded on its website the names of voters deleted from the roll, including voters’ list who figured in the 2025 electoral rolls but were dropped from the 2026 draft rolls. 

The deletions stem largely from more than 58 lakh "uncollectable SIR enumeration forms", PTI reported, involving voters found to be absent from their registered addresses, permanently shifted, deceased, or marked as ‘duplicate’ across constituencies.

"Aggrieved persons can submit their claims in Form 6 along with the Declaration Form and supporting documents after publication of draft roll during the period fixed for receiving claims and objections i.e. 16/12/2025 till 15/01/2026," the commission website stated.

The EC is bracing for a far more challenging hearing phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise than the now-concluded enumeration stage, according to Subrata Gupta, the EC-appointed special observer for the exercise.

Gupta told PTI that the upcoming hearing phase would be daunting due to the acute shortage of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant EROs (AEROs). These officers will be tasked with conducting hearings over the next 45 days.

The commission disclosed that of the 7.66 crore enumeration forms issued to electors listed in the 2025 rolls, over 58 lakh were found to be "uncollected" for reasons including absence, permanent relocation, death, or duplicate entries.

"Of the total enumeration forms we collected, there are over 1.34 crore that contain logical discrepancies. The inconsistencies range from same names appearing both as father and mother of certain voters to abnormal age differences between electors and their parents or grandparents. These errors may be bonafide in nature. They could also be malafide.

"Some 30 lakh unmapped forms with the 2002 list have also been received, which are included in this discrepancy list. Over 85 lakh forms are riddled with name mismatch issues with the 2002 rolls. Then there would be claims and objections from aggrieved voters whose names get deleted from the draft rolls. We have to conduct hearings for each of these cases to ensure we publish an accurate final roll," the retired IAS officer said.

While Gupta stated that it was premature to estimate the exact number of voters who may fall under the quasi-judicial hearing process, a senior EC official said he would not be surprised if the figure touched two crore.

At present, West Bengal has around 3,300 EROs and AEROs combined. Gupta said simple calculations showed that each officer would need to hear close to 140 cases daily over the next 45 days to meet the deadline.

Even if each hearing lasted just 10 minutes, it would translate into a daily hearing schedule of nearly 23-and-a-half hours.

"We have requested the EC to provide us with an additional 2,500-3,000 EROs/AEROs. Once those appointments are finalised, we have done a rough calculation that each officer will then have to conduct between 50 and 100 hearings a day, which itself would be a stiff task since that would entail a daily hearing span of over 500 minutes which doesn’t happen even at high courts," Gupta stated.

Emphasising the need for "quality training to the EROs and AEROs" ahead of the hearings, Gupta said both competence and understanding of the quasi-judicial process would be crucial to ensure an accurate final roll.

"We have sought concrete guidance from the EC in matters of the hearings since the process involves allowing or disallowing individuals from exercising their franchise, and hence they can't be arbitrary or subjective," he said.

Gupta added that completing the hearing phase by the scheduled February 7 deadline would also require printing and distributing hearing notices in duplicate, uploading details into the EC database, and fixing alternative dates for applicants unable to attend hearings for valid reasons.

Praising Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for their "excellent work" in completing the enumeration within the stipulated timeframe, Gupta said he remained confident of steering the process forward "despite the ruling Trinamool Congress dispensation remaining unfavourably disposed towards it right from the beginning".

"I was confident of seeing through this phase since it was primarily a citizen-led process and the commission had the support of the people who wanted an error-free voters' list. Political opinions won't matter much over here," said Gupta.

He said heightened surveillance of the BLO-led enumeration—following his appointment and that of five additional special observers—pushed the number of deleted voters from 32 lakh to 58 lakh in the final 12 days of the exercise.

"The challenge was psychological. The pressure on the officers was initially only from the politicians. The observers brought about the counter-pressure which changed the work environment," he said.

Gupta acknowledged lapses by the commission in adequately informing voters about the SIR exercise, noting that the 2002 rolls existed only in manual form.

"The 2002 rolls were in manual mode. Our IT team faced huge challenges in digitising them, and even then, technical loopholes have accounted for mapping mismatches," he said.

Asked what voters should expect from the draft rolls and whether unpleasant surprises lay ahead, Gupta said, "There would be many more pleasant surprises than unpleasant ones in the draft rolls."

(with PTI inputs)