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West Bengal Voter Count Drops for First Time Since 2011 After SIR Cleanup

The Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal has resulted in the state's total number of voters declining to 6.75 crore, marking the first drop since 2011. Prior to this, the voter count had seen a continuous and steep rise from 5.62 crore in 2011 to 7.60 crore in 2024. Poll analysts attribute the previous increase to the inclusion of new voters without the parallel removal of deceased, shifted, missing, or duplicate entries. The recent SIR exercise facilitated a large-scale cleanup of these invalid voters, leading to the significant decrease.

Key Points: Bengal Voter List Sees First Decline Since 2011 After SIR

  • First voter decline since 2011
  • Steady rise from 5.62 to 7.60 crore until 2024
  • SIR removed invalid entries
  • Trend reversal ahead of Assembly polls
3 min read

Bengal SIR: Number of voters declines for first time after constant steep rise since 2011

West Bengal's voter count falls to 6.75 crore after SIR, marking the first decline since 2011. Analysis points to large-scale deletion of invalid entries.

"large scale deletion of 'deceased', 'shifted', 'missing', 'duplicate' as well as 'bogus' voters - city-based poll analyst"

Kolkata, April 8

The Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal has concluded following the release of the final supplementary list. Statistical analysis indicates that this marks the first instance of a decline in the number of voters in the state, following a steep and continuous increase since 2011, the year which marked the conclusion of the 34-year Left Front government and the onset of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress governance in the state.

According to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, in the regime-changing year of 2011, the state went for Assembly polls with a total of around 5.62 crore voters.

In 2014, when the Lok Sabha polls were conducted, the number of voters in West Bengal increased to around 6.27 crore. In fact, during the period, for the first time, the principal opposition parties in West Bengal alleged that although new or first-time voters were included in the voters' list, the names of "deceased", "shifted", "missing", and "duplicate" voters were not eliminated from the list.

Again, in 2016, when the Assembly polls in the state were held, marking the return of the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal with a bigger majority in the House, the number of voters increased to around 6.58 crore.

In 2019, the year of the Lok Sabha polls, West Bengal went to polls with an increased voters' strength of 6.98 crore, which subsequently increased to 7.33 crore in 2021, marking the return of the Trinamool Congress regime for the third consecutive term in the state.

Finally, during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the number of voters in West Bengal had increased to 7.60 crore.

The trend, as per the figures available from the CEO's office, shows that between 2011 and 2024, there has been a steady rise in the number of voters, and not even once has any decline in the trend been noticed.

However, following the SIR, which started in November last year and was finally completed this month, the total number of voters in West Bengal had declined to 6.75 crore.

Poll analysts feel that the perpetually upward graph in voters' graph from 2011 to 2024 indicates that while the new and first-time voters kept on getting added to the list, there was no parallel elimination of the "deceased", "shifted", "missing", and "duplicate" voters from the list.

"However, in course of the SIR exercise this time, there has been a large scale deletion of 'deceased', 'shifted', 'missing', 'duplicate' as well as 'bogus' voters, which has resulted into such a drastic decline in the number of voters, amid the two-phase Assembly polls in the state later this month," said a city-based poll analyst.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

P
Priyanka N
So for over a decade, while adding new voters, they conveniently "forgot" to remove the deceased and duplicates? 🤔 This SIR exercise was long overdue. Every citizen should demand such regular clean-ups in all states.
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Rahul R
The timing is interesting, right before assembly polls. While cleaning the list is good, one hopes this process was transparent and non-partisan. We've seen how voter lists can be weaponized in the past.
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Michael C
As an observer, this data is fascinating. A steady 13-year rise followed by a sharp correction. It highlights the importance of independent electoral bodies and continuous audit processes, something crucial for all democracies.
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Anjali F
Finally some sense prevails! My own para had names of people who shifted out years ago still on the list. This cleanup should be a yearly exercise, not a once-in-a-decade event. Kudos to the officials who did the hard work. 🙏
V
Varun X
The article says opposition parties raised this issue back in 2014 itself. It took 10 years to act? This shows how accountability gets delayed in our system. We need faster mechanisms to correct such fundamental flaws.

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