Discovery through SIR: Kolkata stagnant, but Bengal’s border districts saw a sharp spike in voter numbers

Dispute over special revision data intensifies accusations ahead of high-stakes Bengal elections.

- TIKAM SHARMA

West Bengal has emerged as the latest political flashpoint for both the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Opposition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The two parties are locked in a bitter confrontation over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with each side levelling sharp allegations against the other. The TMC has accused the BJP of using the SIR process as a “backdoor NRC”, alleging that the Election Commission is backing the saffron party’s agenda. The BJP, on the other hand, claims that the TMC is resisting the SIR because it fears losing its so-called “fake voters”, whose support it alleges helped the party gain power.

Significantly, source within the Bengal BJP told ‘The Sunday Guardian that the ongoing SIR exercise has thrown up a striking set of data: while West Bengal’s overall voter count has registered an impressive 69% rise over the last 23 years, the increase in Kolkata has been barely 4.6%. In contrast, the total number of voters in the state has jumped from 4.5 crore in 2002 to 7.6 crore in 2025, reflecting a steep 69% surge.

‘A comparative review of the electoral rolls prepared after the previous Special Intensive Revision in 2002 and the latest 2025 list highlights the stark difference between Kolkata and the rest of the state in the growth of the young population. The combined number of voters in the Kolkata North and Kolkata South Lok Sabha constituencies has risen by only 4.6%—from 23,00,871 in 2002 to 24,07,145 in 2025.