In Kolkata, nearly 91 lakh voter names were removed from the electoral rolls following the completion of the Systematic Identification of Voter Eligibility (SIVE) exercise in West Bengal. This move, according to the Election Commission, has further polarized the political landscape, turning the SIVE process into a key battleground ahead of the upcoming assembly elections on April 23.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Election Commission of deliberately targeting Matua, Rajbanshi, and minority community members. BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari countered by stating that Bangladeshi Muslims have no place in West Bengal.
The Election Commission has not yet officially announced the final voter list after the revision process.
Data from the Election Commission shows that over 90.83 lakh names have been removed from the original voter base of 7.66 crore, representing over 11.85% of the electorate.
Over 27.16 lakh voters, representing 60.06 lakh "under adjudication" voters, have been removed during the scrutiny by judicial officers, according to the Election Commission.
The figures reveal that approximately 45.22% of the cases under judicial scrutiny after the publication of the post-SIVE electoral rolls on February 28 were dismissed.
Over 32.68 lakh of the "under adjudication" voters have been retained and included in the final voter list.
The Election Commission data indicates that the highest number of deletions occurred in Murshidabad, a Muslim-majority district, where over 4.55 lakh of the 11.01 lakh names under judicial scrutiny were removed from the electoral rolls, representing approximately 41.33% of the deletions in that district.
Significant deletions were also recorded in North 24 Parganas, bordering Bangladesh, where over 3.25 lakh of the 5.91 lakh electors under scrutiny were found ineligible, and in Malda, where over 2.39 lakh of the 8.28 lakh voters under judicial review were removed.
Deletion figures in South 24 Parganas, Purba Bardhaman, and Nadia districts stand at nearly 2.23 lakh, 2.09 lakh, and 2.98 lakh, respectively, according to the Election Commission.
In Nadia and North 24 Parganas, which are predominantly populated by Hindu refugee Matua communities, the deletion rate reached 77.86% and 55.08%, respectively.
In Cooch Behar, the primary home to the Rajbanshi SC community, over 1.2 lakh names, representing over 50% of the 2.38 lakh electors under adjudication, were removed from the final list.
Over 28,000 voters were deleted in Kolkata South, which includes Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's constituency, Bhabanipur, resulting in a deletion rate of 36.19%.
Approximately 39,000 voters in Kolkata North were found ineligible, leading to a deletion rate of nearly 64%.
Addressing a rally in Nadia, Mamata Banerjee criticized the Election Commission and the BJP, stating that the TMC will support those whose names were excluded from the voter rolls. She accused them of discriminating against Matuas, Rajbanshis, and minorities.
She also claimed that in districts with significant minority populations, names were "picked and removed like lice" from the electoral rolls.
Banerjee claimed that following her intervention in the Supreme Court, around 32 lakh names out of nearly 60 lakh cases "under adjudication" had been restored.
The TMC supremo urged voters to participate in the upcoming assembly polls as a fight to protect people's identity and democratic rights.
She stated that the election is a fight to save democracy, language, and respect, so that no one can ever call them foreigners.
Accusing Banerjee of forcing the top court to intervene in scrutinizing SIR names, Suvendu Adhikari said, "A significant portion of names deleted from the rolls are those of dead voters. The CM wants dead voters to vote, and that's why she is raising objections."
Adhikari insisted that Bengal will not offer shelter to Bangladeshi Muslims, and that the electoral rolls must be "purified once and for all."
He argued that Mamata Banerjee is using the SIVE process as a tactic to create law and order disturbances and anarchy before the elections. He claims that she is trying to confuse people by calling SIVE, which is a proven method of cleaning up voter lists, as NRC.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP of deleting legitimate voters from electoral rolls as a means to stay in power. He said this has happened not only in Bengal but across the country.
Official data released on February 28 shows that 63.66 lakh names, or about 8.3% of the electorate, have been deleted since the SIVE exercise began in November last year, reducing the voter base from 7.66 crore to over 7.04 crore.
Voters whose names have been removed from the final list can move to tribunals set up under Supreme Court orders, but it is still unclear if those found eligible by the tribunal will be able to vote in the upcoming polls.