Just ahead of the elections, more than 90 lakh electors in the state saw their names removed from voter lists after the Election Commission initiated a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The exercise was aimed at eliminating entries of deceased and duplicate voters to cleanse the electoral database.
The Trinamool Congress strongly opposed the SIR process, alleging targeted action and institutional bias, expressing concern that such large-scale deletions could erode its core voter base. With the party now out of power, the correlation between voter deletions and electoral outcomes has come under intense scrutiny.
A review of constituency-wise data shows that in 147 constituencies where over 25,000 names were deleted, the BJP secured victory in 95 seats. The Trinamool Congress won 51 seats in these constituencies, while the Congress managed only one seat.
A similar pattern was observed in constituencies where deletions ranged between 15,000 and 25,000 names. In this category as well, the BJP emerged dominant, winning 47 seats. The Trinamool Congress secured 19 seats, while the Congress won one seat.
The Election Commission conducted the Special Intensive Revision as a key administrative exercise in West Bengal, a state sharing more than 2,200 kilometres of international border with Bangladesh, adding strategic significance to electoral roll verification.
According to official figures, the revision identified a record 91 lakh voters as ineligible to participate in elections. Prior to the issuance of the SIR notification in November last year, the total electorate stood at over 7.66 crore.
A draft electoral roll released in December indicated that more than 58.20 lakh names had been removed. This figure further increased to 63.66 lakh after the publication of the final electoral roll on February 28.
Additionally, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer reported that more than 60.06 lakh cases were forwarded for judicial adjudication in February. Out of these, 27,16,393 individuals were classified as “excludable,” bringing the total number of deleted voters to 90,83,345.
The scale of deletions, combined with the electoral shift, has intensified debate over the impact of administrative revisions on voter demographics and election outcomes in West Bengal.
The election results, alongside the extensive voter list revisions, mark a significant turning point in the state’s political landscape, raising questions over electoral integrity, administrative processes, and the evolving balance of political power.
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