Political Parties Submit 8 Claims to Include Eligible Voters in West Bengal SIR
Kolkata, Jan 2 — In the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of West Bengal electoral rolls, political parties have submitted eight formal claims and objections for the inclusion of eligible voters, the Chief Electoral Officer’s office reported. The submission window for parties ran from December 17 to December 31, 2025, as part of a broader exercise to update the state’s draft voter list ahead of the 2026 elections.
The SIR initiative, aimed at cleansing and verifying the accuracy of voter rolls, currently reflects 7,08,16,630 electors in the draft list published on December 16, 2025. Election officials removed over 58.2 lakh names during the initial enumeration after verifying cases of migration, non-submission of forms, and deaths.
Among the political submissions, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) led with three claims, followed by Communist Party of India (Marxist) with two, and single entries from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and All India Forward Bloc. The Indian National Congress did not file any claims in this phase.
The CEO’s bulletin also highlighted robust public participation: 1,74,459 claims for inclusion of eligible electors and 37,781 objections for exclusion of ineligible names have come directly from voters through Form-6/6A and Form-7 filings. Electors are being urged to review the draft list and submit any further corrections before the January 15 deadline.
The SIR process plays a pivotal role in ensuring democratic integrity by updating and verifying voter data. With hearings and final revisions scheduled before assembly elections later this year, political and public scrutiny of the rolls remains high.
