Post SIR, Bengal’s female elector count hits 10-year low; gender ratio falls for first time in 13 years

From 969 in the 2025 Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls, the gender ratio has gone down to 964 after the SIR. The gender ratio is the lowest in five years, after it increased from 961 in 2021 to 965 in 2022, and 967 in 2023 to 968 in 2024.

The absolute number of female electors is also the lowest since 2017, when it was 3.24 crore. After the SIR, as per the final roll published on February 28, the number of female electors is 3.16 crore.

Women voters have been the focus of election campaigns across states in the past few years. In Bengal, the TMC has announced women-focused schemes in its manifesto, and the BJP is likely to counter with its own programmes when it releases its manifesto.

Replying to a question by TMC MP Rachna Banerjee, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal informed the Lok Sabha that 5.23 lakh electors aged 18 are on the final electoral roll after the SIR in Bengal. The reply also included data on the number of electors who were “reported deceased between the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections”, which adds up to 21.66 lakh.

Bengal’s female elector count hits 10-year low

The controversial SIR

In a break from the practice of the past two years, the EC in June 2025 decided to prepare the electoral rolls of the country afresh, rather than the annual SSRs that update existing rolls. The procedure adopted also differed. All registered electors were required to submit enumeration forms to remain on the rolls, and certain categories were required to submit additional documents to confirm their eligibility, including citizenship.

The SIR began in Bihar in July 2025 as Assembly elections were due in the state. Later, the EC conducted the exercise in nine states, including West Bengal, and three Union Territories (UTs). The final electoral roll of one of the states, Uttar Pradesh, is yet to be published.

So far, in nine states, including Bihar, and three UTs, a total of 3.53 crore names or 8 per cent of the pre-SIR electorate have been cut from the rolls.

In Bengal, the SIR began in November 2025, leading to the publication of the draft roll on December 16, 2025. The draft roll saw the deletion of 58 lakh electors, of which 24.16 lakh were found to have been deceased, cutting the total electorate from 7.66 crore to 7.08 crore.

Then, the EC rolled out its centralised software to issue notices to those electors who had made it to the draft roll but had not provided details of themselves or their parents in the previous intensive revision of the state in 2002. The EC also issued notices to those it found to have “logical discrepancies” based on the documents submitted during the enumeration phase.

In an unprecedented process, the EC in December 2025 deployed thousands of central government employees as micro-observers to attend the hearings and review the decisions taken by the statutory authority, the electoral registration officers, only in West Bengal.

In a first, the Supreme Court ordered the deployment of judicial officers to decide the pending cases in Bengal, leading to the publication of the final roll on February 28 with 60.06 lakh names “under adjudication”. The process of adjudication and appeal is still on for these electors, even as polling is scheduled for April 23 and April 29 in the state.