Bengal SIR hearings end, nearly 5 lakh didn’t turn up
After deletion of 58 lakh names in the first phase, over 6 lakh more names likely to be out of the voters’ list
Members of various organisations held a march in Kolkata demanding the scrapping of SIR, on Saturday. Express As hearings for the “logical discrepancies”, a part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, formally came to an end in West Bengal on Saturday, sources in the Election Commission said that names of another 4.98 lakh people will likely be deleted from the state’s voters list since they did not turn up for the hearings.
Also, the scrutiny of the documents provided by those summoned for the hearings so far shows that 1.63 lakh people failed to show proper documents, thereby their names are most likely to be deleted, said sources in the EC.
In the first phase of the SIR, names of 58 lakh electors – nearly 8 per cent of the total 7.66 crore voters in the 2025 electoral roll — were deleted in the state on grounds of being absent, shifted, dead and duplicate.
“So far, in the second phase of the SIR (in West Bengal), 6.61 lakh names have been deleted from the voters’ list. Adding to the deletions in the first phase, it totals 64 lakh names… The scrutiny of the documents will continue till February 21, and more names will likely be deleted. The final electoral rolls are slated for publication on February 28,” an EC official said.
On Monday, the Supreme Court extended the SIR deadline for West Bengal and said that the EC’s exercise cannot be obstructed. “Whatever orders or clarification are required, we will issue. But we will not allow any impediment to the SIR process. This must be understood by all states,” Chief Justice Surya Kant had said while hearing petitions filed by a TMC MP and others against the EC’s drive.
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