Bengal SIR draft rolls highlights: Draft electoral rolls published in West Bengal, 58 lakh names removed

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Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: Here are some key points about the draft electoral rolls in Bengal:

• The draft electoral rolls were published on Tuesday by the Election Commission (ECI) in West Bengal and a few other states and union territories.
• The names of over 58 lakh voters were deleted in Bengal on various grounds, including death, migration and non-submission of enumeration forms, sources told HT.
• A senior commission official told PTI that the hearing process for affected voters would begin in about a week's time.
• Over the next one month, till January 15, 2026, the poll panel will receive claims and objections from voters and political parties regarding inclusion and deletion of names in the draft roll.
• Hearing and verification will take place from January 16 to February 7, 2026. The final roll will be published on February 14, 2025.
• The SIR exercise has also been accompanied by claims of "SIR-related panic", with the TMC alleging that 40 people, including four booth-level officers, have died due to stress linked to the process. The BJP has rejected these claims as politically motivated.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: Over the next one month, till January 15, 2026, the poll panel will receive claims and objections from voters and political parties regarding inclusion and deletion of names in the draft roll.

Hearing and verification will take place from January 16 to February 7, 2026. The final roll will be published on February 14, 2025.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: Special Intensive Revision falls within the constitutional powers of the Election Commission to periodically purify electoral rolls to ensure no eligible voter is excluded from the list and no ineligible voter is included, Union Minister JP Nadda said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Replying to a debate on Election Reforms in the Upper House, he said said that no questions were raised on the credibility of the EC when its functioning and work "was controlled by a single party" run by one family, without directly naming the Congress.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: If you do not find your name in the draft electoral rolls, submit a claim or objection with the Election Commission during the specified timeline.

Here's how:

• You need to fill Form 6 (Voter Registration) and submit it along with ‘Annexure IV’, which is a Declaration Form, plus supporting documents to prove your identity and residence.
• This can be submitted online at voters.eci.gov.in or via the ECINET app as well as offline to the booth level officer (BLO).

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: Here’s a quick guide to help you check your name in the draft electoral roll in West Bengal:

1. To check your name in the draft rolls, visit the Election Commission's website (voters.eci.gov.in) or the website of your state's chief electoral officer (ceowestbengal.wb.gov.in).

2. You can also check your name at the polling station with the booth-level officer (BLO), who keeps a copy of the electoral lists for each booth. You will be able to check the lists through the ECINET mobile app as well.

3. After you head to the portal, you can search using name and electoral photo identity card (EPIC) number.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: Over 5.82 million voters’ names were dropped from the draft roll of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal as the draft electoral roll was published on Tuesday.

“The draft roll has been released. Around 5.82 million names of dead, absent, shifted and duplicate voters have been dropped from the draft roll,” a senior official of the poll panel in Kolkata told HT. Read more here.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: TMC spokesperson Krishanu Mitra said, "In the draft rolls, around 58 lakh voters have been deleted. As per BSF data, around 4,000 people have crossed back into Bangladesh through the Hakimpur border. What we are hearing is that in nearly 80 per cent Muslim-dominated constituencies, the average deletion rate is 0.6 per cent, while in Matua-dominated regions the average deletion rate is around 9 per cent."

"The state's overall deletion rate is around 4 per cent. If you exclude deaths, who are the remaining deleted voters? Through which borders did they leave?" he asked.

The party has maintained that there are no Rohingya voters in West Bengal and alleged that the narrative of mass infiltration was being politically manufactured in the run-up to elections.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari had earlier alleged that illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya immigrants were present in large numbers in West Bengal and had influenced electoral outcomes in the past. He had urged the EC to take decisive action against such voters.

The draft rolls, however, show no numerical basis for the claim of one crore illegal voters. The figure of 1.83 lakh 'ghost' voters, officials said, represents cases flagged during the SIR process after field verification.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: The ruling Trinamool Congress said that West Bengal's draft electoral rolls under the EC's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) have sharply undercut BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's claim that the state hosts "one crore Rohingyas and Bangladeshis", with the number of voters identified as 'fake' or 'ghost' pegged at 1,83,328.

TMC spokesperson Krishanu Mitra said, "In the draft rolls, around 58 lakh voters have been deleted. As per BSF data, around 4,000 people have crossed back into Bangladesh through the Hakimpur border. What we are hearing is that in nearly 80 per cent Muslim-dominated constituencies, the average deletion rate is 0.6 per cent, while in Matua-dominated regions the average deletion rate is around 9 per cent."

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: A total of 1 ,03,467 names have been removed from electoral rolls in Puducherry as part of Election Commission's SIR exercise, according to a press release by CEO Puducherry.

The commission has said that voters can file claims and objections from December 16 to January 15.

“Any aggrieved elector may appeal to the District Magistrate and thereafter to the Chief Electoral Officer under Section 24 of the RP Act, 1950. Volunteers are also being trained to assist electors in filing appeals,” the press release read.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced earlier that draft electoral rolls for West Bengal, Rajasthan, Goa, Puducherry, and Lakshadweep will be published on Tuesday (December 16).

The electoral body has directed Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) and District Electoral Officers (DEOs) to share hard copies of the draft rolls with all recognised political parties.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: Speaking to PTI on the eve of Tuesday's publication of the politically hypersensitive list, Subrata Gupta, the EC-appointed special observer for the exercise, said that the hearing phase challenges are likely to be daunting in the wake of the paucity of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant EROs (or AEROs) in the state, who would be conducting the mammoth task over the next 45 days or so.

"Some 30 lakh unmapped forms with the 2002 list have also been received, which are included in this discrepancy list. Over 85 lakh forms are riddled with name mismatch issues with the 2002 rolls. Then there would be claims and objections from aggrieved voters whose names get deleted from the draft rolls. We have to conduct hearings for each of these cases to ensure we publish an accurate final roll," the retired IAS officer said.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee earlier said that she would sit on dharna if even one eligible person's name is struck off voter list during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

Addressing a rally in at Krishnanagar last week, the TMC supremo said that the Election Commission is sending BJP-inclined officials from Delhi to oversee DMs' work during SIR hearing, PTI news agency reported.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: According to the data shared by WB CEO sources to HT, over 24 lakh voters have been marked as ‘dead’ in the draft list. Here's a breakdown:

Dead: 2,416,852 people

Relocated: 1,988,076 people

Missing: 1,220,038 people

Duplicate: 138,328 people

Others: 57,604 people

Total: 58,20,898 people

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: District electoral officer (DEOs) of Alipurduar district in West Bengal said during a press briefing on Tuesday that more than 12 lakh names have been removed from the electoral rolls in the in Alipurduar district.

Notably, HT earlier reported that over 58 lakh names have been deleted across the state as part of the poll body's SIR exercise.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: The electoral body has directed chief electoral officers (CEOs) and district electoral officers (DEOs) to share hard copies of the draft rolls with all recognised political parties to ensure transparency in the process.

The draft electoral rolls will also be uploaded on the official websites of CEOs and DEOs, allowing citizens to verify their voter information online.

Also, the ECI has mandated that comprehensive lists of voters categorised as absent, shifted, dead, or duplicate entries will be uploaded on the CEO and DEO websites.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: More than 58 lakh pre-existing voters have been deleted from the draft list for 2026, due to death, relocation, duplication, missing, and other reasons, sources told HT.

The chief electoral officer (CEO) West Bengal's website says that the list of voters whose enumeration forms were not received has been prepared by the BLOs along with the booth level agents (BLAs) .

“Aggrieved persons can submit their claims in Form 6 along with the Declaration form and supporting documents after publication of Draft Roll 2026 during the period fixed for receiving claims and objections,” it said.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: The publication of draft rolls would mean the end of the enumeration phase, but it will then lead to another schedule involving the claims and objections period, with hearings and verification as part of the notice phase, and finally arrive at the release of the final electoral rolls.

Here's what you can do if your name is missing from draft electoral rolls:

• If you do not find your name in the draft electoral rolls, submit a claim or objection with the Election Commission during the specified timeline.
• You need to fill Form 6 (Voter Registration) and submit it along with ‘Annexure IV’, which is a Declaration Form, plus supporting documents to prove your identity and residence.
• This can be submitted online at voters.eci.gov.in or via the ECINET app as well as offline to the booth level officer (BLO).

More details here.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: More than 58 lakh pre-existing voters have been deleted from the draft list for 2026, due to death, relocation, duplication, missing, and other reasons.

The exact number of voters deleted from the West Bengal's draft voter list is 5,820,898, sources told HT.

Bengal SIR draft rolls live updates: The Election Commission will publish the draft electoral rolls of West Bengal and a few other states and union territories today.

The draft rolls would be made available on the official website of CEO, West Bengal, ceowestbengal.wb.gov.in/Electors as well as the voter portal of the EC, voters.eci.gov.in, and also on the ECINET application.