West Bengal SIR appeals remain largely unresolved, with only about two percent of the roughly 38 lakh petitions decided since March 2026, a Right‑to‑Information filing shows.
Backlog of cases overwhelms tribunals
The Chief Electoral Officer’s office disclosed that just 75,443 of the decided cases resulted in voters being added back to the rolls, while 7,339 kept them excluded. That translates to roughly 91 percent of the resolved matters favoring inclusion.
In total, 37,27,838 petitions—about 97.8 percent of the whole pool—are still awaiting a decision. On average, one out of every 46 filings has been settled.
Congress MP Isha Khan Choudhury filed the RTI request that prompted the release of these figures. The response also broke down the data by district and gender, showing how the Special Intensive Revision reshaped the electorate.
Elector roll shrinks dramatically
Before the revision, the state’s roll listed 7,60,10,006 electors. By 28 February 2026, the final SIR roll contained 6,44,52,609, a drop of 1,15,57,397 names or 15.21 percent.
Male entries fell by 58,02,457, a 15.03 percent decline, while female entries slipped by 57,54,317, or 15.39 percent. The third‑gender category saw the steepest proportional loss, decreasing from 1,773 to 1,150, a 35.14 percent cut.
Related: Delhi High Court urges Centre on nursing panel
Reductions were not uniform. Kolkata South and Maldah each lost more than 30 percent of their voters; Kolkata South shed 2,90,610 names, and Maldah trimmed 10,01,054. Kolkata North and Uttar Dinajpur also recorded cuts exceeding a quarter of their previous totals.
At the opposite end, Purba Medinipur recorded the lowest proportional reduction, with its electorate falling by 1,67,902, or 3.97 percent. Bankura and Paschim Medinipur saw modest declines of 4.64 percent and 5.75 percent respectively.
In absolute terms, North 24 Parganas recorded the largest loss, with 14,44,123 fewer electors than in 2024, followed by Murshidabad’s 13,27,896 reduction and South 24 Parganas’ 12,85,364 drop.
These numbers suggest that many citizens who voted in the recent assembly election were unable to cast ballots because their names vanished during the SIR process.
The Supreme Court recently asked the Election Commission to supply detailed data on pending petitions and the relief sought, after a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant heard arguments about the tribunals’ functioning.
Congress member Prasenjit Bose’s petition claimed that the SIR exercise erased more than 90.8 lakh names, with 27.16 lakh deletions occurring after adjudication. He noted that roughly seven lakh of those affected filed challenges.
Related: How Temecula Injury Claims Against Government Work
According to the same filing, over 34 lakh petitions have been lodged with the appellate bodies, including appeals against exclusion and objections to inclusions, some filed by Election Commission officials themselves.
While the courts have ordered the creation of 19 tribunals to process these challenges, the sheer volume means many cases will linger for months, if not longer.
For the average voter in West Bengal, the protracted backlog means continued uncertainty about eligibility. If a name remains on the pending list, the individual cannot verify status before the next election, potentially disenfranchising large segments of the population.
Officials have not indicated a timeline for clearing the docket, and the Supreme Court has requested the data.
As the state prepares for upcoming electoral cycles, the unresolved petitions loom as a significant administrative hurdle that could affect voter participation and confidence in the electoral system.
