West Bengal voter list shows 26 lakh mismatches with 2002 data: ECI
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An official of the Election Commission of India said on Wednesday that nearly 26 lakh names in West Bengal’s current electoral rolls do not correspond with entries from the 2002 voter list.
The discrepancy came to light after the state’s updated rolls were compared with voter lists prepared across various states between 2002 and 2006, during the last Special Summary Revision (SIR) cycle.
According to Election Commission sources, more than six crore enumeration forms from West Bengal had been digitised by Wednesday afternoon as part of the ongoing SIR process.
An official told Press Trust of India that after digitisation, each application goes through a “mapping” process in which new entries are cross-checked against the earlier records.
Preliminary findings indicated that about 26 lakh names could not yet be matched with past data, and the figure may increase as the digitisation exercise continues, Maktoob Media reported.
Officials explained that “mapping” involves cross-verifying the latest electoral rolls with those last comprehensively compiled in 2002. This year, the Chief Electoral Officer has widened the process to also include voter lists from other states in a bid to ensure a more thorough verification.
The Election Commission clarified that a mismatch at this stage does not automatically result in deletion from the roll, stressing that any final decision would only be taken after additional checks and field-level verification.
The Commission has announced the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision in 12 states and Union Territories, including West Bengal.
Meanwhile, the SIR exercise in Bihar has triggered controversy after around 65 lakh voters were excluded from the draft electoral roll released on August 1, 2025. Out of a total electorate of 7.89 crore, only 7.24 crore names appeared in the draft, leading to intervention by the Supreme Court of India and allegations that the deletions disproportionately affected marginalised communities.