Amidst the excitement of West Bengal Assembly elections 2026, the Election Commission has released a shocking data. After the ‘Special Intensive Revision’ (SIR) campaign conducted in the state, names of about 91 lakh voters have been removed from the voter list. The Commission has not yet officially announced the new voter base, but according to the available data, about 11.85 percent of the total voters in the state have been reduced. This big change has further intensified the political turmoil in the state.
Complete mathematics of removal of 91 lakh names
According to Election Commission data, till October last year there were 7.66 crore voters in Bengal. After the investigation process, a total of 90.83 lakh names have been removed so far. Of these, about 27.16 lakh names were struck off during the adjudication by the judicial officers alone, in which questions were raised on the eligibility of 60.06 lakh voters. This means that about 45 percent of the people who came under investigation were found ineligible to vote.
Huge cuts in Muslim majority and border districts
The biggest cut in the figures has been seen in the Muslim-dominated district of Murshidabad, where out of the 11 lakh people who came under investigation, more than 4.55 lakh names were removed. Similarly, 3.25 lakh names have been deleted in North 24 Parganas and 2.39 lakh names in Malda, bordering Bangladesh. In South 24 Parganas also, about 2.23 lakh voters have been discharged.
Condition of Nadia and Matua dominated areas
If seen in percentage terms, the situation is even more shocking in districts like Nadia and North 24 Parganas. A record 77.86 percent of the names that came under investigation in Nadia district and 55.08 percent in North 24 Parganas have been removed. Let us tell you that these areas are considered to be under the influence of Hindu ‘Namoshudra Matua’ community.
What happened in Mamata Banerjee’s stronghold Kolkata?
Names of about 28,000 voters have also been deleted in ‘Kolkata South’ area of Bhawanipur, the assembly constituency of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The situation appeared more serious in ‘Kolkata North’, where 64 percent i.e. about 39,000 people who came under scrutiny were found ineligible for voting.
Voter list ‘freeze’ for first phase
A senior Election Commission official said that this entire process has been done in a transparent manner and under the guidelines of the Supreme Court. After Monday midnight, the voter list for 152 seats in the first phase (April 23) has been ‘frozen’, that is, no new names will be added to it. The list for 142 seats in the second phase will be locked on April 9.