58 lakh already deleted statewide; 60 lakh more under adjudication as anxious voters queue up to check their status
KOLKATA ,February 28, 2026 -The Election Commission Saturday began releasing West Bengal’s post-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) electoral rolls district by district, with Bankura emerging as the first indicator of the exercise’s sweeping scale over 1.18 lakh names, roughly 3% of its electorate, have been struck off since the SIR commenced in November 2025.
Bankura’s final roll now stands at approximately 29.15 lakh, down from 30.33 lakh. Deletions were attributed to death, migration, duplication, and “untraceability,” while several thousand fresh Form 6 applications were approved following hearings.
Statewide, Bengal’s electorate has already contracted sharply from 7.66 crore to 7.08 crore with 58 lakh names eliminated in the first phase alone. A further 60 lakh voters remain under adjudication, their fate pending supplementary rolls.
In north Kolkata, nearly 17,000 names were reportedly found missing from approved lists, triggering sharp political reactions. Serpentine queues formed outside district election offices and cyber cafes as anxious citizens scrambled to verify their status from hard-copy notice boards, with online portals yet to be fully updated.
With assembly elections approaching, the stakes could not be higher.
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