The Election Commission of India (ECI) published data by districts for the post-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) adjudication process for six million electors in West Bengal on Tuesday. The fate of all but 22,163 of the 6,006,675 electors who were put through the adjudication process has been decided: 45% of those under adjudication have already been found ineligible as voters. These electors will not be able to vote in the forthcoming elections, although there is still a possibility that they might become eligible at a later stage. What does this entail for the state’s elector rolls ahead of elections? Here is what an HT analysis of the data shows.
Locals look for their names in a list during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Kolkata on Sunday. (ANI) West Bengal has lost 8.9 million electors from its pre-SIR elector count
West Bengal had 76.6 million electors before the SIR process began in the state. HT’s calculation using the data released by ECI on Monday and Tuesday puts the number of electors as of now at 67.7 million voters. This entails a loss of 8.9 million voters in absolute terms: 6.2 million of these were deleted during the SIR process (as it has been conducted in other states) and another 2.7 million in the adjudication process that followed (which is unique to the exercise in West Bengal). To be sure, this number could change for the entire state as the state’s 142 constituencies voting in the second phase could see addition of new voters and depending on the fate of 22,163 who are still under the adjudication process. How is the change in Bengal’s pre-SIR and post-adjudication elector strength compared to other states which have undergone SIR or Special Revision (Assam)? Before the adjudication exercise, it had seen a loss of 8.1% electors, placing it in the middle of the pack. With that number now 11.6%, West Bengal is ranked only behind Gujarat and Chhattisgarh among big states, neither of which are going to polls before 2027. To be sure, Uttar Pradesh is yet to complete its SIR process. (See Chart 1)
West Bengal has seen a slight weakening of the correlation between urbanisation and deletion post-adjudication
Ever since the SIR exercise was started with Bihar in June 2025, conspiracy theorists have attributed ulterior motives to it. These pages refrained from theorising before facts and were proved right. In almost all large states, deletions were higher in districts which had a greater share of urban population. We attributed it to migrants being registered as voters in more than one place and eventually choosing their place of birth
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