Bengal CEO says 5.8mn voters to be deleted from electoral rolls

At least 5.8 million dead, duplicate, untraceable and permanently shifted voters were found in West Bengal till 4 pm on Thursday, the state’s chief electoral officer announced just hours before the deadline for the first phase of the controversial special intensive revision lapsed.

- HT Correspondent

Thursday was the last day for submission of enumeration forms in the state, where elections are due in 2026. The draft roll will be published on December 16.

“We have detected 5,808,232 dead, duplicate, untraceable voters and those who have permanently shifted to other locations. The number is likely to rise,” Manoj Kumar Agarwal, chief electoral officer of West Bengal, told reporters.

The ruling Trinamool Congress and its arch rival the Bharatiya Janata Party have been claiming that around 10 million to 15 million names could be dropped in the final roll which would be published on February 14, 2026.

West Bengal has around 76.6 million voters. The digitisation process has been completed for around 99.96% voters, a senior official said.