KOLKATA: The Election Commission will incorporate names approved by the SIR tribunals into Bengal's electoral roll until midnight on Tuesday, with an updated list to be issued on Wednesday for the 152 assembly seats going to polls in the first phase on Thursday, chief electoral officer Manoj Agarwal announced.
"The names cleared by the tribunals will be added to the list until 12 midnight. Returning officers, district election officers, political parties, and candidates will receive the updated list tomorrow. Electors whose cases are approved by the tribunals will be informed through their booth-level officers," Agarwal stated on Tuesday evening.
Voter enrollment trends
Earlier, the poll panel reported approximately 5 lakh new voter enrollments after the publication of the final electoral roll on February 28, bringing the state's total voter count to 6.8 crore. This represents a 10.9% decline (83.8 lakh voters) compared to the pre-SIR count of over 7.6 crore.
The voter count is expected to rise further once the names cleared by 19 tribunals—established on the Supreme Court's order to hear appeals against deletions during the SIR—are added to the list.
Currently, the number of voters for the first phase stands at 3.6 crore. During the initial deletion round after the SIR began, approximately 58.2 lakh ASD (absent, shifted, dead/duplicate) voters were removed. The draft list published on December 16 contained just over 7 crore names, down from over 7.6 crore on the pre-SIR list.
Final list details
According to the final list published on February 28, 5.5 lakh names were deleted from the draft roll. The February list had 7.04 crore names, including over 60 lakh placed "Under Adjudication" and around 1.9 lakh newly enrolled names.
Among the names "Under Adjudication," 33 lakh were cleared by judicial officers, while the rest were rejected. Consequently, the electoral roll strength dropped to 6.8 crore (including 5 lakh new enrollments from February 29 to April 9).
Appeals and voter concerns
Over the past four days, hundreds of people gathered daily at the tribunals' office in Joka seeking updates on their appeals against deletions. Denied entry by armed guards, deleted voters—many from distant districts where elections will be held on April 23—returned without any information about their appeal outcomes.
Standing in scorching heat outside the barricaded office, these individuals sought help from police, who explained that only those issued hearing notices would be allowed inside to meet the retired judges heading the tribunals. The lack of a help desk compounded their difficulties.
"There is none to help us out," said Hasan Khan, who traveled from Malamba in East Burdwan. "My name and the names of my brother and sister have been deleted. We filed appeals online and submitted hard copies to the DM's office. Till now there is no update on the appeals."
