Bengal SIR shock: 1 lakh ‘deceased voters’ found in Kolkata North!

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has identified 1,04,076 deceased voters that make up about 6.9% of the total electors in Kolkata North till Tuesday afternoon, The Times of India reported.

Kolkata North is followed by Kolkata South where 54,985 'deceased voters' have been identified so far.

About 45 lakh electors that also include the deceased haven't received the enumeration form till Tuesday.

Meanwhile in a significant correction, the ECI on Tuesday revised its earlier figure of 2,280 West Bengal polling booths—where enumeration forms indicated no voter had died or shifted in the last 20 years—to 480, according to media reports.

During the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the unusually high number of booths with “zero change” had triggered suspicion, prompting the poll body to order a probe. After district officials were asked to recheck data on dead, duplicate, or untraceable voters, the number was sharply revised.

An EC official told The Indian Express, “Wherever questions are raised, we will scrutinise the forms. Providing false information is punishable. Even if a voter is on the 2002 list, they may be called for a hearing if the details don’t tally.”

South 24 Parganas reported the highest number of such booths at 159. The ECI has also placed booths with unusually low return of enumeration forms under scrutiny.

Amid these developments, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari met Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal on Monday, alleging large-scale irregularities in the SIR process involving EROs and AEROs.

He demanded a re-examination of 1.25 crore voter records. On Tuesday, Adhikari shared an audio clip alleging BDO and ARO involvement in rigging.

The Election Commission has appointed former IAS officer Subrata Gupta as Special Roll Observer for the SIR exercise in West Bengal, one of the 12 states where the revision is underway.

So far, around 45 lakh names have been removed from the electoral rolls through the SIR, which the ECI has extended by seven more days. Enumeration will continue until December 11, and the draft list will be published on December 16.