Kolkata Voter Roll Purge: Over 25,000 Names Excluded, 1.4 Lakh Under Scrutiny
In a significant development, the final voter lists published on Saturday for the Kolkata North and Kolkata South Parliamentary constituencies have excluded more than 25,000 electors whose names were previously included in the draft roll. Additionally, a staggering 1.4 lakh Kolkata voters remain on the "under adjudication list," indicating ongoing scrutiny and potential further exclusions.
Massive Deletions Across Assembly Segments
The December 16 draft list revealed that Kolkata witnessed the highest number of voter deletions. In the Maniktala Assembly constituency, which falls under the Kolkata North Lok Sabha seat, a total of 5,175 electors were deleted through Form 7. This represents the maximum deletion for any Assembly segment across the 14 Assembly seats in both Kolkata North and Kolkata South.
Following closely, Entally and Chowringhee in Kolkata North recorded the second and third highest deletions with 4,440 and 2,748 electors removed, respectively.
South Kolkata Constituencies See Significant Reductions
In Kolkata South, the Bhowanipore Assembly constituency, represented by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, experienced the highest number of deletions at 2,342. Kolkata Port and Rashbehari constituencies followed in second and third places with 1,083 and 1,066 electors removed, respectively.
According to Election Commission data, Kolkata North saw a total of 17,987 electors deleted, while Kolkata South witnessed 7,386 deletions across its seven Assembly segments.
Under Adjudication Lists Raise Concerns
The "under adjudication" list presents another layer of uncertainty. Kolkata South, led by Kolkata Port, has the highest number of people placed under adjudication at 78,657. Kolkata North follows with 61,236 individuals on this list.
Before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Bhowanipore had 262,095 voters. However, between the draft list and the final publication, a total of 47,094 names were removed—44,770 during the draft stage and an additional 2,324 in the final list. This reduction brings the current count to 159,201 voters across 267 booths. With 14,154 names still under adjudication, further removals remain a distinct possibility.
Detailed Constituency Breakdown
Kolkata Port, the constituency of Firhad Hakim, comprises 266 booths. The draft list included 179,735 names, while the final roll contains 179,239 names after accounting for new additions through Form 6 and 6A. Notably, 32,378 names in the Kolkata Port Assembly constituency are currently under adjudication.
In the Rashbehari Assembly constituency, which has 269 booths, the draft list contained 160,021 names, and the final roll shows 158,955 names. Here, 8,157 electors are marked as "under adjudication."
The Ballygunge Assembly constituency has 23,968 names falling under the "under adjudication" category, adding to the overall scrutiny.
Overall Impact and Electoral District Analysis
Election Commission sources indicate that approximately 626,000 voters were removed from 11 Assembly constituencies under the Kolkata North and Kolkata South electoral districts in total. Earlier reports revealed that 407,000 names were dropped from North Kolkata—390,000 in the draft and 17,000 after hearings. The South Kolkata electoral district saw a total reduction of 219,207 voters, with 3,207 names specifically appearing on the deleted list.
It is important to note that Kasba, Behala East, and Behala West, which fall under the Kolkata South Parliamentary constituency, are under the jurisdiction of the District Election Officer (DEO) South 24 Parganas, highlighting the administrative complexities involved in this extensive voter list revision.
