Booth-level officers display voters’ list after publication of special intensive revision (SIR) electoral rolls in Birbhum, West Bengal on March 1, 2026. | Photo credit: PTI-
Most of the voters in West Bengal awaiting verdict during a special intensive revision of electoral rolls are from minority-dominated districts, according to data shared by the state’s Chief Electoral Officer.
In the final list published on February 28, 2026, there are 60,06,675 cases under adjudication. Muslim-majority constituencies have the highest number of such voters, including 11 lakh in Murshidabad and 8 lakh in Malda. In fact, these two districts bordering Bangladesh have almost a third of the cases under trial. There are 4.8 million cases pending in Uttar Dinajpur, 5.9 million cases in North 24 Parganas and 5.2 million in South 24 Parganas. These districts also have a high percentage of minority populations.
501 court officials are working to clear the names of 60 million voters and additional lists will be published in accordance with the Supreme Court’s February 20 order.
The final electoral roll of West Bengal, released on February 28, has 7.04 million voters, which is 8.09% less than when the process began on October 27, 2025.
‘Fixed target for deletion’
Trinamool Congress leadership plans to continue protests against SIR. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sits on a dharna against the Election Commission of India, March 6 in Kolkata. The party is protesting the deletion of 62 million voters and another 60 million voters who were convicted. Ms. Banerjee has held several protest marches against SIR in the past few months.
At a press conference on the European Citizens’ Initiative on Sunday, Trinamool Congress MP and general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said “the target of wiping out more than one million voters was decided before the exercise started”.
“Even before the start of SIR, these leaders said that one to 1.25 lakh voters will be wiped out. They have set a target. The Election Commission is acting accordingly,” Mr Banerjee said. There were also several protests by a section of Matuas, a sect of Hindu refugees who had migrated to West Bengal from Bangladesh. The community bore the brunt of the SIR process and saw a number of voter deletions, protestors alleged.
The Trinamool Congress also highlighted the case of Women’s Cricket World Cup winner Richa Ghosh, who donned the blue jersey and brought glory to the nation and has now been placed “under trial” in the final electoral rolls.
Published – 01 March 2026 20:34 IST
