45% of voters in Bengal poll roll not found in 2002 list

Around 45% of the voters’ names in the present 2025 electoral roll of West Bengal couldn't be found in the 2002 electoral roll when the last Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was last rolled out in the state, officials aware of the development said on Thursday.

- Joydeep Thakur

This was revealed after the Election Commission of India (ECI) started the voter mapping process in West Bengal where elections are scheduled to be held in the first half of 2026. The exercise is a precursor to the SIR, which is likely to be rolled out in the eastern state soon. “The voter mapping process is still continuing and is likely to be completed soon. But so far around 45% of the voters’ names in the present electoral roll were not matching with the 2002 voters list when the last SIR was held in the state,” said a senior poll panel official.

In comparison, around 63% of the names in the 2025 voting roll in Bihar were already present in the 2003 list —49.6 million in a list of 78.9 million.