Kolkata, March 5: The SIR of West Bengal’s voter list has struck the electoral nerve centre of the TMC, hitting Muslim-majority areas and the crucial two 24 Parganas districts ahead of the assembly polls, even as the ruling party bets on higher turnout, Bengali pride and women and minority consolidation to blunt the impact.
The electoral roll revision has had its deepest impact in North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Malda, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur – six districts that together account for over 100 assembly seats, including 64 in the two 24 Parganas alone, widely regarded as the electoral backbone of any winning coalition in Bengal.
These districts have also been central to the TMC’s dominance since 2011, with the party sweeping all six in the 2021 assembly polls.
Murshidabad alone has over 11 lakh voters under adjudication, the highest in the state, followed by Malda with around 8.3 lakh. In the politically crucial North 24 Parganas, about 5.9 lakh voters remain under scrutiny, while South 24 Parganas has around 5.2 lakh such cases. These districts also witnessed around 23 lakh deletions.
“Control over North and South 24 Parganas often determines who governs Bengal. If the party’s tally in these five districts falls sharply, it could be a challenge for us. We know how to convert the challenge into victory,” a TMC leader said.
The Special Intensive Revision exercise resulted in 63.66 lakh deletions, about 8.3 per cent of the electorate, reducing the voter base from 7.66 crore before the revision to about 7.04 crore now. Another 60.06 lakh voters remain under adjudication, awaiting document verification.
The post-SIR rolls show that nearly 1.23 crore voters, roughly one in six electors, are either deleted or under adjudication.
Data compiled across West Bengal’s 294 assembly constituencies shows that the number of voters affected by the SIR, deletions and those under scrutiny, exceeds the 2024 Lok Sabha winning margins in more than 200 segments, suggesting the exercise could potentially reshape electoral equations in the state polls due in April. (PTI)
