The Special Summary Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal has picked up speed, with political parties and voters actively engaging in the process ahead of the 2026 electoral cycle. According to the daily bulletin issued by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), a total of 2,07,001 claims and objections were submitted by political parties between December 17 and December 30, reflecting intense ground-level mobilisation.
The ongoing revision exercise aims to ensure accuracy and inclusiveness in the state’s voter list, which currently stands at over seven crore electors.
Draft Roll Numbers and Party-Wise Activity
The draft electoral roll for West Bengal presently includes 70,816,630 voters. A significant portion of the claims and objections have been routed through Block Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by national and regional political parties.
Among the parties, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has taken the lead, filing 77,091 claims and objections, including three requests for inclusion. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) followed with 60,186 submissions, comprising one request for inclusion and one for deletion. The CPI(M) filed 49,079 claims and objections, with two seeking inclusion, while the Congress submitted 18,733 representations without specifying any inclusion or deletion requests.
Smaller parties also participated, though in limited numbers. The Forward Bloc submitted 1,885 claims, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) filed 21. Overall, political parties together submitted eight inclusion requests and no deletion requests through valid forms.
The CEO’s bulletin clarified that complaints or representations made by BLAs without the mandatory Form 6 (for inclusion) or Form 7 (for deletion) are treated as invalid and are not taken up for processing.
Individual Voters Drive Bulk of Applications
Apart from political parties, a substantial number of applications have come directly from individual voters. During the current revision period, the Election Commission received 1,64,314 Form 6 applications seeking addition of names and 35,102 Form 7 applications requesting deletions.
Even before the publication of the draft roll, authorities had already processed 3,31,075 Form 6 submissions and 56,867 Form 7 requests, indicating sustained public participation in the revision exercise.
Hearings Underway Across the State
The claims and objections window will remain open until January 15, 2026. Hearings commenced on December 27, with notices issued to approximately 3.1 to 3.2 million “unmapped” voters—individuals whose details could not be matched with the 2002 electoral roll.
These hearings are currently being conducted at more than 3,200 centres across West Bengal. Officials have reported long queues at several locations, highlighting the scale and intensity of the process. The Election Commission has maintained that the exercise is being conducted in a transparent manner, with the objective of finalising a clean and credible voter list.
