91 Lakh Names Deleted From Bengal Electoral Rolls After Judicial Scrutiny Under SIR

The figure of around 90.83 lakh deleted names includes 27,16,393 voters who were declared ‘ineligible’ after the adjudication of 60,06,675 cases with ‘logical discrepancies’. The EC had published multiple supplementary lists in the last few weeks.

The highest number of voter deletions come from districts dominated by Muslims and Matuas who are Hindu migrants from Bangladesh. A Trinamul Congress delegation is expected to meet the EC in New Delhi on Wednesday over the huge exclusion of voters' names.

Earlier, the EC had removed 63,66,952 names, which comprise a major part of the 90.83 lakhs deleted, and marked another 60.06 lakhs as ‘adjudicated’ in its final voters' list published on February 28 at the end of the second phase of the SIR that covered the hearings of the voters. Before that, around 58.20 lakh names were omitted in the first phase of the SIR.

The EC is now left with only 22,163 ‘adjudicated’ voters whose names have been sorted out but are yet to get the ‘e-sign’ of the judicial officers. Once the fate of these names is declared, the total number of voters, which stands at around 6.77 crores now, is expected to change.

Among the districts, North 24 Parganas has witnessed the highest number of exclusions at 12,60,096, which includes 3,25,666 which were earlier ‘adjudicated’. It is followed by South 24 Parganas (10,91,098 including 2,22,929 ‘adjudicated’), Murshidabad (7,48,959 including 4,55,137 ‘adjudicated’), Howrah (5,95,916 including 1,32,152 ‘adjudicated'), Nadia (4,87,565 including 2,08,626 ‘adjudicated’), Hooghly (4,68,939 including 1,20,813 ‘adjudicated’) and Malda (4,59,530 including 2,39,375 ‘adjudicated').

Murshidabad topped the tally of districts with the highest number of deletions of 'adjudicated' voters.

While all these districts have a vast Muslim population, some of them, like North 24 Parganas and Nadia, are strongholds of the Matuas, a community of Hindu migrants from Bangladesh. Trinamul Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee tore into the BJP and the EC over the record number of deletions.

Mamata Banerjee, who addressed poll campaign rallies in North 24 Parganas and Nadia, alleged, “Around 90 lakh voters have not found their place in the electoral roll. Among them, 58 lakhs were deleted in the first phase. That chapter is yet to open. I will not allow them to set up detention camps.”

Reaching out to the Matuas, she also claimed, “Countless legitimate voters have been deleted from Bagda, Bongaon and Gaighata. I visited Bongaon after the deletion of voters' names. Even 300 people associated with Missionaries of Charity found themselves out of the voters’ list. Names of monks of Bharat Sevashram Sangha and Belur Math too have been deleted. They haven’t spared anyone. Don’t trust the BJP. They are like poisonous snakes waiting for their venomous strike.”

Echoing her, Abhikshek Banerjee argued at his rally in Jalpaiguri, “Do we need to give our citizenship proof that we are valid by filling up SIR forms after so many years of independence? Jayanta Roy was elected here as BJP MP by the people. If his electors are illegal then he is also. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union home minister Amit Shah are illegal too.”