Voter List Row Erupts in Bengal Over SIR Data

TMC Claims Hindu Names Dominate Deleted Voter List

Key Points:

• Over 91 lakh names removed in Bengal voter revision
• TMC claims 63 percent deleted voters are Hindus
• BJP questions data citing no EC confirmation

KOLKATA – A dispute has intensified in West Bengal after claims that most deleted voter names during revision belong to Hindus.

The controversy emerged during the Special Intensive Revision process in Kolkata. However, authorities have not released any religious breakdown data.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has confirmed deletion figures but withheld category details. This absence triggered political reactions across the state.

According to Trinamool Congress, around 91 lakh names were removed overall. Moreover, the party claimed nearly 63 percent of them were Hindus.

In the first phase, about 58 lakh names were deleted. However, TMC stated that nearly 44 lakh of them were Hindus.

Meanwhile, around 13.5 lakh Muslim names were removed in that stage. The second phase saw about 5.5 lakh deletions.

Moreover, TMC said roughly 5.28 lakh Hindus were affected then. In contrast, about 13,000 Muslims were removed in that phase.

The third phase included about 27 lakh names under review. Meanwhile, around 17.5 lakh Muslim names were listed there.

TMC calculated totals combining all three stages. Moreover, it claimed 63 percent Hindus and 35 percent Muslims were affected.

A party spokesperson said poor Hindus faced hardships. However, he accused authorities of targeting people during identification drives.

He added that organizations digitized voter lists for analysis. Moreover, booth-level data was available from earlier stages.

On the other hand, BJP rejected these claims strongly. Its spokesperson questioned the source of TMC’s figures.

He said the Election Commission released no such community data. Moreover, he asked whether booth officials leaked information.

However, TMC has not clarified how it obtained the data. Meanwhile, the political dispute continues ahead of future elections.