E-Paper
Around 95% of voters removed after Bengal SIR in Nandigram are Muslims, shows data
In Nandigram, West Bengal, 95.5% of voter deletions are Muslims, raising concerns about electoral fairness ahead of upcoming elections.
There has been a striking pattern in voter list deletions in West Bengal’s Nandigram, with Muslims, who make up about 25% of the population, accounting for 95.5% of removals across seven supplementary lists. Non-Muslims, who constitute roughly 75% of the population, accounts for just 4.5%, according to data sourced from the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The figures are based on an analysis by the Sabar Institute, a Kolkata-based public policy research organisation, which examined ECI voter roll data from supplementary lists 1, 2, 3, 4a, 7, 8 and 9. In six of these, the share of Muslims removed ranges from 60.9% to 98.7%. The trend cuts across gender lines, with variations in male and female deletions, but a consistent religious skew.
The only exception is list 4a, where 100% of those removed were non-Muslim women, with no Muslim deletions recorded.
The disparity becomes sharper when compared with population share. If deletions were proportional, Muslims would account for about a quarter of removals. Instead, they make up nearly all of them (95.5%), according to the report.
A separate dataset from December 2025, based on the ECI’s Absent, Shifted, Deceased and Duplicate (ASDD) criteria, shows Muslims accounting for 33.3% of deletions and non-Muslims 66.7%. Even this indicates overrepresentation relative to population share, though far less pronounced than in the supplementary lists.
Voters whose names were deleted after scrutiny by judicial officers could appeal before 19 appellate tribunals set up by the ECI across West Bengal. April 6 is the last date for filing nominations for the first phase of the assembly elections, which includes Nandigram, scheduled to vote on April 23. As per election rules, electoral rolls are frozen after the nomination deadline, leaving deleted voters with a limited window, until 3 pm on April 6, to seek redress.
Nandigram remains one of West Bengal’s most politically sensitive constituencies. It was the site of the 2021 assembly election in which chief minister Mamata Banerjee lost narrowly to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari. Any irregularity in voter rolls here carries significant political implications.
The ECI has not publicly commented on the religious composition of deletions in the constituency.
On Sunday, Banerjee at a rally in Samserganj said, “Cast your votes to take revenge for the deletion of people’s names, and against the SIR so that the results reflect that.” She alleged, “They (EC) have deleted names of some, while intimidating some others.”
Responding to the allegations, Sukanta Majumdar said, “The SIR was a constitutional duty to clean the rolls and prevent fraud, and the TMC was scared of a fair election.” He dismissed Banerjee’s claims as “fear-mongering” and accused her of “trying to shield illegal infiltrators and bogus voters”.
According to experts from the Sabar Institute, the data raises questions about the process followed, the criteria applied, and the reasons for the sharp divergence between population share and voter deletions, warranting a response from election authorities.
